AB Type
by byShamora
Summary: She started it as an act to play and now she doesn't know how to end it, not with her cursed blood and the Uchiha prodigy near. ItaSaku main and a little bit of NaruSaku, rated for lime stuff on advanced chapters. DISCONTINUED
1. Wake up

You're all I ever wanted, all I ever hated, it's you that makes me ill, it's your fault, it always is.

Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

AB Type 

Chapter one

Breath in, breath out. Slowly. Breath in, breath out. Now, open your eyes and try not to vomit.

That was the beginning of her new life. And all she had in her head was to throw up.

A few minutes in silence, looking at the white ceiling told her that she wasn't feeling any different, except for the sickness, of course. But aside from that, she could still call herself Haruno Sakura, as always.

Her eyes moved slowly to the window, and out to the gray sky. It seemed like it was going to rain, and it didn't make her feel any better.

When she tried to move, she realized how heavy her body felt, heavy and tired. She sighed out of resignation. She hated to be hospitalized.

A shy knock sounded on the door, followed by a strong, yet quiet voice. Tsunade's voice. It lightened up a little Sakura's mood.

"May I come in?" Her teacher was like her mother, sometimes. Sakura saw the doorknob turn and the door slowly open, letting enter her mentor's voluptuous form. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears, maybe because the surgery had gone all right, and to see Sakura, looking at her with a tired smile, but a smile at least, made it all real. She had survived, and damn she was happy for it.

Tsunade sat on the chair next to Sakura's bed and raised her hand to comb softly some wild pink tresses. She had known early in the morning about Sakura's awaken, so she put a sedative on her so she could work on the very little details of her body's health.

"So, how are you feeling?" her concern was evident, but it was like a mother caring.

"I feel like puking", Sakura said with a small smile.

"It's normal, don't worry about it. Anyways, is good to see you smiling." Tsunade smiled too.

"I'm sorry...for keeping you all so worried", Sakura said with a very weak voice.

"You don't have to be sorry for anything, it's not your fault at all, everything that we did was because we care about you, so don't feel sorry"

"Well...yeah...", Sakura smiled a little uncomfortable. Tsunade noticed this, maybe she had been using a harsh tone of voice, damn.

"I'm happy to have you here with me again, Sakura", Tsunade said cautiously while giving the cutest smile she could give, then caressed her hair softly. Sakura in return looked at her smiling face, and smiled too.

"Well girl, would you like something, I mean, you must be feeling quite weak"

"Yeah, a glass of water would be like heaven right now, I'd prefer to let the food for later", Sakura felt her throat terribly dry and her stomach threatening to return whatever she had in there.

"I'll be back right away", the teacher winked at Sakura and then went out of the room.

The smile on Sakura's lips slowly fading away. Her eyes glued to the ceiling again, and she couldn't help bringing back to her memory the series of circumstances that had brought her to this bed, on this particular day.

It was during a training session with Tsunade that she first felt the nuisance. She had been practicing a special jutsu and suddenly her head felt like a feather. It happened more and more, accompanied with erratic heartbeat. That time she fainted, but afterwards she could only dismiss it as tiredness, after all she had been training like mad the last month.

Then, it started to happen more frequently, during eating, training, even in her relax moments, but when it happened during a mission, she started to concern about it. The ANBU exams would be taken very soon, and that was the reason she had been training so hard, so she couldn't afford any illness.

When she told the Hokage about it, she monitored her, and the look on her face, the next day when she told Sakura what was happening with her, remained burned on her mind. She had said that it was an absolutely uncommon illness to blood. It happened when the chakra started to reject the owner's blood. Of course it was dangerous; of course it meant sure death.

She couldn't live without chakra, nor could she live without blood.

She remembered how Kakashi became mad when he knew about it. And knowing too that they shared the same type of blood , he almost cut his neck to give it all to her.

A soft chuckle escaped Sakura's lips.

She had never seen him like that.

Naruto, on the other hand was convincing every person on the village to donate their blood for her. Gosh, he could be so childish sometimes.

But Tsunade said that the same type of blood wouldn't work at all, it was the problem in first place. And if they wanted to transfuse another type, they had to pass the blood through a special treatment, which had fifty percent of probabilities of succeed. Definitely not a win/win situation.

Finally, the last person in the world she had thought that could save her life, did it.

Yes, it was nonetheless than the Uchiha Sasuke himself, who presented that day to donate blood. He tried to avoid her and everyone.

The rest of the process went smoothly because of the high level of acceptance that her body showed to his blood. Ironic, without a doubt.

Now she could only laugh, when before she would have cried.

She had his blood running through her veins, mixing within hers, replacing hers little by little as she saw the transfusion machine beside her. She could actually see her blood being cleansed and changed to become like his.

Sakura couldn't quite comprehend how did it work, but it was mostly thanks to a secret jutsu of Tsunade.

She looked at her hand and saw the unusually big vein under a thin layer of pale skin.

'It was you blood, it's mine now', she felt an odd feeling at that thought.

Sasuke had all a story around his blood and family lineage, and because of it he had molded his life to become the avenger he was. And to have his blood, his tainted blood running through her body provoked her both fear and happiness.

"May I come in?", Kakashi's voice interrupted her thoughts like an explosion in a church.

He had this amused expression on his face, as if observing some ridiculous scene.

"What, I know I look terrible, but at least try to conceal it !", Sakura spat in between a wide smile.

"You should look at yourself and your thoughtful face, it cannot be helped", Kakashi said trying to suppress a bored laugh.

For a moment, they only stared at each other. It was peaceful and spontaneous. With Kakashi it was always like that. Where Tsunade felt like a mother, Kakashi felt like the father. Always concerned about her, always caring, always understanding. He was like a mature figure of her best friend.

"The Hokage told me that you would be awake around this time. So tell me, how do you feel?", he took a seat next to her.

"Weird...I mean, is my body and I feel the same, but, there is something...I don't know...I feel like my life doesn't belong to me anymore", That was another thing she liked about Kakashi, that he was like her confident. She could tell him everything about her, and still feel comfortable around him.

"Because of Sasuke", Kakashi said almost like a statement.

"Yeah...It's his blood after all, just that is into me"

"Don't worry about it, you'll get used with time. You should see it as a gift, as a new chance to live and correct your mistakes, not everyone has that possibility"

"I guess I'll feel better when I face him", she said like to herself.

"So, how is Naruto, did you tell him that I'm alright?", she said changing the subject.

"He went on a mission yesterday, he will be back at the end of the week, hopefully" Kakashi answered.

"Yesterday, but he said that he would have a mission about a week ahead. Why did he leave so soon?"

"Sakura, I know you don't have any reason to know it, but...well, you have been in coma for two months", Kakashi's words were like a bomb to her. They were cautious and mesmerized, like he had been planning a lot of time how to tell her, but even his concern couldn't help the painful knot that was created on her gut.

Two months, damn, that seemed like an eternity for someone who had been actually unconscious.

But how much had she missed of?

"Oh...well...", she didn't know what to say. Seeing the worried look on Kakashi's face made her want to lighten up the mood.

"Such a lazy bum I am, don't I, she said faking a smile. She just couldn't bare his guilt face.

"Yeah... anyways, Sasuke said he would be coming today to see you. He still doesn't know that you're awake, so it'll be a big surprise for him", the tenseness fading away.

Sasuke...how to act towards him now? how to look him in the eyes, it was a very difficult situation indeed.

So the day passed away. Tsunade appeared with a glass of water on her hand and Kakashi left in favor of work, he said.

When she finally was alone, the gray sky had gone black, without a star to look at.

That's when Sasuke made his entrance.

At first he didn't notice that she was awake, because of the darkness. It was around midnight anyways, and she was supposed to be in coma. So he stood next to her, just looking intently at her dark figure. A quiet "sorry" escaped his lips in the way of a barely audible whisper.

"What are you sorry of?" Sakura said gently while moving her head in his direction. She fought the urge to laugh when he gasped loudly out of pure astonishment.

"Sakura, you...awoke?", his surprised voice threatening to broke his always collected behavior.

"Yeah, although I'd prefer to be asleep with such a strong headache", she joked. The dim light that came to the room made her eyes glitter. She could only stare at him, and he, in return, could only stare at her, with wide open eyes.

"I'm glad" was the only thing he said. She couldn't have asked for more, after all, is the Uchiha Sasuke we are talking about.

They remained there, silently looking at each other, unsaid feelings screaming through their eyes.

Sakura could suspect his worry, it was obvious to her, he was a part of her now.

"So, I knew that your acceptance was about ninety eight percent, that's quite something", his voice losing a little of its coldness.

"Yeah, so I knew, before falling into coma", she said, trying not to sound too sad. But he noticed. He knew better than that.

"Well, I don't know if I should be saying this but, many things have happened", his gaze turned to the dying lights of the village. It was a weird look, but Sakura couldn't quite pinpoint what he was feeling at that moment. So she decided not to ask and remained silent. She would eventually know about the changes, but for now, she wanted to enjoy this rare moment of peace with the boy of her dreams.

"Well, I'm leaving now, you have to rest and regain your strength", Sasuke said looking at her.

"I hope I'm seeing you all soon", so she smiled widely at him, like showing that she was as cheerful as always. But the insistent nuisance in her stomach remembered her that it would never be like before.

When he left the room, saying a quick good night, her smile dropped. There was definitely something wrong with Sasuke, and it worried her. She could feel it. It was an ache in her heart that told her that something had happened. Something big.

Sleep overtook her and she decided to accept it in order to feel better.

And the dim light seemed dimmer, and everything became dark.

'Good night, Sasuke-kun'

* * *

A few days later, she was in perfect shape. Her body felt as new and to know how worried had been everyone just because of her, made her self-esteem grow a lot. 

Needless to say, her relationship with Sasuke had turned into a very interesting one. He seemed more worried about her, even caring, in his own way, of course.

The way they could know of each other's thoughts just with a look was beyond her reasoning. She could do nothing but being happy with it.

Naruto awoke her early in the morning with a loud knock at her apartment's door. He rushed into her bedroom when she still was trying to open her eyes. He stood beside her bed for the longest time, and when Sakura was able to look at him, he was crying like a baby. He threw himself at her, embracing her with all the love he could posses. His warmth was very welcoming in those cold mornings, so she returned the hug, a little shocked.

"I'm so happy you're alright, Sakura-chan!", he said between sobs. Her eyes filled with tears of emotion, a new feeling building up inside her and she needed his hold hopelessly.

"I heard bastard's blood was your salvation...God, Sakura-chan, I couldn't believe it when I heard it"

"I think none suspected it either", she said, loosening their hold.

"Well, so now get ready because we'll call today free. I invite you to eat somewhere, and for you not to feel uncomfortable..." she could see him blushing a little and looking sideways "...we can invite someone else...", Sakura could only laugh. He was really cute after all.

"Don't worry, Naruto, it's ok with me", she said seeing the bewilderment on his face.

A few -much- minutes later, Sakura was ready and they left her apartment. She thought, as an obvious reasoning, that he would take her to Ichiraku's, but to her surprise, Naruto took her to a very elegant restaurant. And she was even more surprised, astonished, when he didn't order ramen.

"Wow! It seems I really missed of a lot of things!" She said while the waitress was looking at her with a bored face, waiting for her to order.

Naruto only laughed, a little ashamed. The truth was that he had thought of taking her to Ichiraku's in first place, but when he spoke to Kakashi about it, he gave him this idea. He said that Sakura would be damn surprised, and he was absolutely right.

He would have preferred a hot bowl of Ramen, instead of tiny pieces of fish with insipid rice and sea grass, but for Sakura chan, he could do it over and over, just to see her smiling face.

Sakura was indeed glad for the change. She liked ramen, but she liked more to see Naruto make such a big sacrifice for her.

An odd feeling took possession of her stomach, like a warm flow of something that made her look at this blonde boy she had in front in a way she had never seen him before. He was like...glowing, and for some reason, she couldn't take that stupid smile from ear to ear that now occupied the 70 percent of her face.

"So, what happened to you in this time I was lazing around?", she asked curious.

"Well...you can call me "captain" now" Naruto said proud.

"Captain?...don't tell me...you..."

"Yes, I passed the exams! Now I'm captain of the third special ANBU squad, but, you should keep it a secret, you know..." His smile was even bigger than hers.

"Whoa! congratulations, Naruto! I'm very happy for you", she said honestly, though a part of her was envious, she had trained so hard to give that exam, and she fell sick.

"Yeah...thanks...and, Sasuke, he wanted to give the exam too, but the old hag Tsunade didn't let him...yeah, I laughed of him for about a week" he said with a full mouth.

"I think he's not worth of trust yet...but he should have felt terrible", she imagined his face the week Naruto made fun of him.

"But the old hag has a bland heart beneath all that pile of wrinkles, so she will forgive him soon, I believe she will let him take the exam the next year"

"I hope so..."

They continued they meal. Naruto made some jokes from time to time, and all went smoothly. By the time they finished, the sun was big above their heads. The summer was arriving imposingly, and the hot days were an announcement of the heated season that was coming.

They walked to a river, into the forest, where the rays of sunlight only warmed the skin.

Sakura felt incredibly comfortable with Naruto, just the two of them, sharing a peaceful moment, something that would have never occurred before.

Late in the night, Sakura was in her bed, having a cup of tea. The bed felt nice and soft, but for some reason she couldn't sleep. Lately she had had problems with it, but then again, she had been asleep for two months, so probably her body was tired of it.

'Naruto'...he plagued her mind now, and deeply into her heart she was scared of it. Scared because that was how she begun to like Sasuke, some years ago. Could it be that she was developing new feelings for her blonde teammate? Before that seemed like an impossible, ridiculous thought, but now...now it wasn't so insane.

She chuckled. Yeah, it was funny...very funny. But that brought her mind to her other teammate.

Sasuke.

She was sure of her love for him...even in the most decisive moments of their relationship, she had been firm beside him. So why did she had that pain in her chest? it had been there since she first woke up in the hospital, and it grew when Sasuke was mentioned.

'Weird', it was obvious anyways for her to feel odd with him.

'Sleep girl, just sleep' her mind was too confused with the recent events, and still was trying to adapt to her 'new' life.

So she closed her eyes, and slowly, fell asleep, with the nuisance that something was definitely wrong.

* * *

A/N: I don't really know how long will be this story, I think as much as my volatile inspiration lasts xD. But I have quite good ideas for this one, so...enjoy it Oh, by the way, Is going to be an Ita/Saku, definitely, but I don't know if I could include another pairing, I'm a little interested now in some Naru/Saku stuff, but not so much...oh, and Sasuke...poor guy, he is going to suffer in this story...muahahahhaha 

Please review!


	2. The truth hurts

I don't think I really need to do this, but...just in case:

_blabla : _memories

'blabla': thoughts

"blabla": speech

Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Chapter two 

Sasuke was a very irascible person when certain buttons were pushed. Sakura knew exactly which were they so she was always careful to avoid any conflictive topic.

But today Sasuke was abnormally unfriendly, especially with her.

Today the three of them had been sparring, as usual every Wednesday. They did it in part for keeping each other in contact, and part because they just loved sparring. It relaxed them quite a lot.

She had been exchanging some kicks and punches with Naruto when suddenly she felt Sasuke coming at her, so she prepared for the attack. It happened all so quickly that she had no time to realize what was he doing, till she felt his hand tightening in a grip around her neck.

He was fighting her seriously.

Normally, she could have easily avoid that attack, she could have even counter it, but not when they were supposedly just playing, and not having a death or life combat. And it hurt her, even more that the bruising hold on her neck.

A sudden rush of fear ran up and down her spine when she realized that his eyes had turned to sharingan, and that they were looking at her with such a ferocity that brought tears to her green eyes.

"SASUKE!!!", Naruto's voice seemed so distant, flying away from her and her world. Then, Sasuke loosened his grip, and she was able to breathe again, and her face returned to the pallid hue she knew very well.

And her tears were over flooding her eyes.

But what scared her even more than what he had just done, was the look on his face when he finally released her. His eyes returned to black, but his gaze was quite different. It wasn't the usual cold stare that she met during the years, every day in the mornings. Nor was the hatred that filled his eyes every time his brother was mentioned. No, it was something Sakura had never thought to see in him.

There were feelings so up to the surface, so clear that they were evident for anyone who looked at him. Such sadness, guilt, remorse...but most of all, there was fear.

She didn't know why he was so scared, perhaps because he realized of what he did, or maybe there was a hidden reason.

'Probably the last', she couldn't know.

Only a fraction of second that their eyes made contact, and she was able to see a completely different Sasuke, that one that was hidden beneath his cold, indifferent mask.

Now the tears ran freely down her cheeks, for she felt safe in the comfort of her apartment, where she was alone and could cry complete days if she wanted to.

'What happened back then...Sasuke kun?'

Was he really going to...No...that couldn't...

that couldn't...

Was he going to kill her?

'Kill...me?'

Uncontrollable sobs made her body to convulse.

In the last year they had been sharing nice moments together, she could feel some connection...and now he just attacked her almost as if she were his brother.

'Itachi' She had almost forgot that through her veins also ran his blood.

Was that the reason?

He should be insane, psychiatrically sick to get to that conclusion.

But, wasn't he already?

She was just so sad...Lately her dream of being his girlfriend was becoming true. Although sometimes it was difficult for her to concentrate in her love for him, she didn't know the reason for that, but at least he seemed more comfortable with her, and that was something to praise. She remembered a time, when they were training. She had been so impressed to see herself capable of such a power. She was strong now, and that wasn't something she was used to. It seemed that Sasuke was impressed too because he just stood looking at her, open mouthed with wide-open eyes. The same day in the night, when they were going to their homes, he said that it was good to see her improving.

'Thanks' she said. Then his eyes looked at hers in a way she didn't know. But it sent shivers up and down her spine, in made her stomach warm, and if it hadn't been for her self-controlled mind, she would have kissed him just there, in the middle of the street.

Yeah...He had flirted with her, very dissimulated, sometimes she thought it had been just her imagination, but it didn't happen just once. Some sensual smirks were directed to her frequently during training, albeit they lasted a few seconds.

So, needless to say she was so impressed for his behavior today...it just...didn't fit.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto knocked at her door loudly. She let him in, still half asleep, but the news he had brought were enough to awaken her fully. 

"Sasuke left this morning, he asked the old lady to go on this mission, and because it's more ranked that the one we all had, she let him", Naruto said sadly.

"But...we were going to leave today...", Sakura protested.

"It seems he wanted to go on this mission very much, the old hag told me that he was rushed, like in a hurry"

"What mission is it, did she told you?"

"It was something that involved some missing nins from Iwagakure, they had stolen valuable information about the Uchiha clan"

"What do they have to do with the Uchiha?"

"I don't know, but they were being hunted by a lot of countries, everyone would pay anything for that information, even the Akatsuki"

"What? Akatsuki...isn't..."

_'You can't understand me...I'm aiming for completely different things than you'_

_'Well, I want to understand you...really'_

_'If given the case, I don't think you would ever forgive me'_

_'What do you mean?'_

_'Sakura, not everything is like it seems to be'_

You acted selfishly...all this time, you were building up a whole context in which you could achieve what you wanted...Sasuke...you lied to us...you betrayed us all.

"Naruto...I'd like to be alone...please"

"Sakura chan..." Naruto looked at her with worry...he didn't wanted her to suffer again for Sasuke. Damn, if she could only see further than that bastard...

Her pleading eyes, now full of tears were looking at him intently now, and he could do nothing but comply.

"Bye Sakura chan...and don't worry, he would be back soon and he will have to plead for his life for dropping us like this!", He tried desperately to lighten up a little the mood, so he gave her one of his big smiles.

It didn't work.

Naruto hugged her and left, it was the only thing he could do right now. He was angry at Sasuke, because they had planned this mission from a long time, it was going to be like their vacations, and above all, Sakura had been so happy about it, talking the whole day of what would they do, what would they eat, even the places they could go and have some fun...poor Sakura, it hurt him to see her happiness, as brief as it would be, completely shattered.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, he lifted his hand to his chest, as to sooth the intense pain that was rapidly growing there.

* * *

He had been traveling for quite a long time. Of course he had already found the Missing nin that held the Uchiha documents and had successfully accomplished his mission, but that didn't care him at all. He was after another prize. 

The mission itself had been easy, but what came next was the most difficult part. It was tiring, but regardless of what he had to go through, he would do it. He had asked to go on this mission in the first place.

Why?, simple, because it involved something he had been waiting for a long time.

Itachi.

He had asked for some information about his whereabouts, but it was too vague, so he had had to do it all by himself, that meant tracking, searching, asking, putting all the pieces together and find out about what his brother had been doing all this time.

He was still the bastard he remembered him to be.

Needless to say he was tired, weeks of intense searching were finally showing on his body, so he decided to rest and recompose himself at an inn, near the Waterfall.

Sasuke felt excited at the thought of facing his brother, he felt capable now. He had recently taken the Anbu exams and had passed them. It seemed that one year of work for that stupid village was enough to gain the Hokage's trust.

Fools.

They still didn't understand him at all, even if they thought they did. Three years with Orochimaru had made him grow in a completely different manner, completely tainted with his color, being with him had given its results. But Orochimaru wasn't useful to him anymore, he had taught Sasuke all he knew, and precisely on that moment, his so called "teammates" arrived and brought him back to Konoha.

They thought they could change him, such fools.

'Sakura'...yeah, he had been thinking about her a lot lately. It had been a year since he had given her his blood and honestly he never thought it would work. He even felt a little guilty when she fell into coma. But she had survived, and that was absolutely suitable for him.

The last day before his mission, he had lost his control. The thought that she had his blood -his brother's blood- made him suddenly think that she was like an Uchiha now. Not a complete one, but one at least, and that was the problem.

Itachi had been very present in his mind, mostly the last months, and when the sudden -stupid- thought that he could appear from the nothing and kill her too, because she had their blood now, exploded in his head. With the rush of anger, adrenaline and the spar session, he had seen all red and decided, in between all his hatred that he should kill her before his brother did. When he woke up from his trance, he saw a very frightened Sakura and left without uttering a word.

That same day he asked the Hokage to change his mission.

He hated his lack of control sometimes. It made him weak, so weak to think that killing her would be the best option.

She progressed incredibly fast in the last year.

When she started to see right through his actions, he was very worried. When she started to show a big power, he was very interested. That's when he had one brilliant idea.

She seemed quieter, introverted, almost dark, but it wasn't something too notorious, he even thought that he was the only one that noticed her change, but then again, she was probably maturating, and his ears were so glad for it.

He had to admit it, at least for himself, that she was pretty and -now- nice. Unlike before, they could train all day, they could talk (one sided of course), have some drinks. They could spent time together without a problem.

Maybe he did like her, but really, he hadn't time to waste in such an insignificant topic. Love and all that stuff was a pain in the ass that he wasn't willing to afford.

Anyways he was certain that she would be the mother of his children, of his renewed clan, after all, he had her for granted, now didn't he?.

But that would come after he got his revenge. Everything else would come later.

Sasuke entered the bathroom. It wasn't too fancy, actually it was quite simple. He didn't like the idea of wasting too much money in an inn, specially when he lacked it.

So he turned on the hot water, undressing himself. His clothes where nasty so he decided he would wash them later. When the bathtub was ready he entered it, feeling immediately the soothing sensation it provided him.

It was the first time since a lot of days that he could freely relax. His tensed muscles slowly were warming up, so he closed his eyes to enjoy it.

* * *

Sakura and Kakashi were in a clearing in the middle of the forest. It was a nice place where they both like to go. The grass was high and soft, the trees were big and provided a nice shadow. But she preferred to sit under a Sakura tree, as to do honor to her name. 

"It's a nice day" Kakashi said in his tired voice.

"Yeah...it is" Sakura was preparing to tell him about her thoughts.

"Kakashi...I've been thinking some things that worry me...about Sasuke" She said lowering the gaze.

"I heard he left in a mission some time ago"

"Yeah...that's the problem...you see, I'm worried that he might not be interested in the village anymore, I mean, that he has some others interests"

"You mean his revenge?"

"Yeah...he said that he had stopped that thing...remember? Well, now I'm not so sure about it"

"Why you say so?"

"He had been acting very strangely...I think he accepted to return here just to become an ANBU...you see, this mission involved Akatsuki, so maybe he took it just because he had this high probability of meeting Itachi"

"I thought so" Kakashi now seemed concerned, his voice was lower and his tone was much more serious.

"I'm afraid he won't return..." Sakura tried desperately to suppress the tears. She didn't like to cry in front of Kakashi.

"Well, I think we will know that with time..."

"Yeah, but it had been three weeks and he still hasn't returned...you know...I don't want him to die", she cried softly.

"Listen, Sakura...You should have realized this before...Sasuke is not the same, and I don't think he will ever be, I know is difficult to accept it, but one day or another, he will go, you've always know that his revenge is the most important thing for him"

"I know...I didn't want to recognize it...but when he was brought here...I noticed something different in him, his eyes were like Orochimaru's and...", a sob interrupted her sentence "...I wanted to believe that it would be like always..."

"We all tried to convince him not to walk that path, Sakura, but he will never turn around...he will never change, you have to face it" he said while embracing her. It was painful for him to see her crying, but he could do nothing to mitigate her pain, she had to live it plentifully, and learn from that.

"You have to be a strong woman, and confront this"

"I can't...", by now she was crying like mad.

"You can, and you know it...let it go...let him go"

Sakura couldn't talk anymore, the words seemed trapped in her throat, making a hurting knot that was clenching it, that didn't let her pain go away. She could only find some comfort in Kakashi's arms, she felt protected and loved, and understood.

But it hurt so much.

So terribly much.

* * *

A/N: Lame...I know it...TT, It's just that I'm so full of ideas but when I face the computer screen, I'm in blank...sorry, I promise the next one will be better. 

XyoushaX: yeah, I also know it...incredible because I suck in biology or chemistry...whatever, the thing is that it's explained the reason she could not accept her same type of blood, and when receiving Sasuke's it had to be cleaned and passed through a "weird" process that she couldn't understand...remember that? yeah...it's also mentioned that it was "probably some secret justu of Tsunade". Well thanks anyways for the correction, I'll try to explain it better in the future.

And don't worry, Itachi will be appearing very soon...maybe the next chapter...although I'd recommend any Sasuke fan to go flying away from here, 'cause he won't have a very good time on this story xD

Thanks everybody for the reviews, it really made me happy to know you like my work D

Keep reviewing!


	3. My fault

Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Chapter three 

There he was, alone in the middle of a forest he didn't know, looking for a person whom none knew anything about and without a hint of food in his stomach.

Finding Itachi had been harder than previously thought. All information given to him had leaded him to a little village in Grass. A bartender has told him that he had been seen there, about one day ago, and that a strange tall man accompanied him. That was an inconvenient, because given his currently state, he could barely fight Itachi alone, but two would be suicidal.

However, he didn't care, not at all; he would fight him anyways.

Therefore, he rushed to the direction he thought correct. He had to stop once to regain his breath and then returned to his journey. When he arrived to a little village, he confirmed his location.

Yes, he was right where he had to be.

The first thing he looked for was a market. His stomach was growling of hunger and he had to regain strength if he wanted to have a little fight today.

Sasuke entered the nearest one he found to buy some supplies with the little amount of money that he had left.

Ironically, the first thing he got into his basket was ramen.

'It's the fastest and cheapest thing to eat', he said inwardly, trying to justify his selection to his annoying conscience.

The girl that attended him looked at him with a strange face. It wasn't the stupid love faces he was used to receive, but a dislike and fear one. Though he didn't pay much attention to that, it just seemed a little bit weird.

His hair had grown much larger, so much, he had to tie it in a ponytail at the base of his head. It kind of bothered him, especially because it remembered him of his brother, but he hadn't had time to cut it, so he just tied it.

In the last month, he had gained a great semblance to Itachi, and that disturbed him a lot. The circles under his eyes and the long hair were a proof of that.

'Maybe that girl thought I was Itachi', well, if that's the case then it would be good, because it meant that she had recently see him.

'You are near, brother...I know it'

And of course, as -almost- always, he was right. Itachi was in a little restaurant, having lunch with someone he didn't remember.

'That must be the tall man the bartender mentioned', and he had been sure by telling him that that man was weird. His appearance was that of a shark, with gray bluish skin and little black eyes. He carried a very large sword on his back.

'I think I remember him...', he had seen him with Itachi the first time he tried to fight him, when they were trying to take Naruto with them, though Sasuke had barely glanced at him.

Sasuke decided to follow them to a place where they could not call much attention, like a forest or something. In the meantime he would eat the sandwich he bought and drink a lot of water.

He rested in the opposite restaurant while having his own lunch. There he could look directly to Itachi but he could not see him. He was cautious by masking his presence, reducing it to pass by a mere civilian.

Half an hour later they stood up and left the place, so he followed them from a prudent distance.

They were going to the exit of the village, which was absolutely suitable for Sasuke. When he got to the gates, he waited for a group of merchantpersons that were going out too, so that he could mix within them and wouldn't be noticed, until they were about 500 meters from the gates. He then separated from the group and hid between some trees.

Sasuke approached slowly, little by little feeling the adrenaline run at high speed though his body. His eyes were big, his breathing quickened, his moves became more rushed.

'Calm down Sasuke...he doesn't have to notice you', but his body was acting on itself.

He quietly climbed a tree to see his surroundings clearly and have a better look of his enemy.

"You can't pretend to be hunting me by being so obvious, Sasuke" Itachi's voice resounded in his brain.

'He noticed me?!', he was desperate. Itachi was standing there, acting as if nothing had happened, not even looking nor searching him.

The only thing he could do was to show himself, which was embarrassing, because Itachi had already noticed him. So he jumped to the ground, and stood there in front of Itachi. The hatred filling the space between them.

"Uchiha Itachi..."

"I may suppose that you've come because you **can** defeat me", Itachi said plainly, though Sasuke caught the hint of mock that was in between his words. That only angered him more.

"I **will** kill you this time", Sasuke said, and for anyone who had listen to him he would have seemed to confident on his sayings.

"Ho, Itachi san, isn't that your little brother?

"Have you achieved it?" Itachi said.

"I've never needed any of your advices"

"I see", he still hadn't acquired the Mangekyou. "Well, I have no time for you today, Sasuke"

The bastard used that tone of voice he used with him in the past, when he asked Itachi to teach him shuriken techniques. He would pay it. That bastard would pay it with his pitiful life.

Sasuke only grunted out of pure anger before coming incredibly fast at Itachi.

Of course he easily caught his fist and sent Sasuke flying away from him.

Itachi didn't even move.

Sasuke came again and when he was inches away from Itachi, he disappeared, directing from behind with a fist fully charged of chakra.

Again Itachi just avoided it and grabbed Sasuke's leg in the air. He supported his body in the ground with his left hand and turned around to kick Itachi with his free leg. Itachi grabbed this one too, so Sasuke's fist became a chidori and prepared to attack Itachi's stomach.

When he felt it didn't connect with anything, he realized Itachi had disappeared, and that he was falling, to finally hit the ground. He stood up and searched for his brother, only to find him behind him with a kunai nearing his throat.

He bended over and threw a kick from under Itachi, aiming for his groin, while throwing three kunai at his chest. A slight 'puff' sounded and his brother's figure disappeared to white clouds.

"Fuck" he had time to say while jumping backwards to avoid the explosion of Itachi's clone.

Sasuke got a little hurt, but most of all he was disoriented.

He felt a searing pain when a kunai pierced his right leg. He fell and hit his back on the roots of a big tree. A kick on his stomach sent him to hit that same tree, and Itachi grabbed him by the neck, to keep him in place.

Sasuke, not wanting this fight to be an unpleasant déjà vu, reacted by hitting his side and took the chance to escape. Again a 'puff' was heard, but this time it didn't explode. He jumped away anyways, but was received by a rain of shurikens.

He finally hit the ground when he fell, all hurt and without strength to keep fighting.

He hadn't been able to hit Itachi not even once.

His brother stood beside him and stepped on him hard on his chest.

"I didn't even have to use my Sharingan on you, tell me, how did you plan to kill me?"

Itachi's red eyes where looking at him from above, and still he hadn't placed any genjutsu on him.

His only available move threatened him to steal all stamina he had left.

He did it anyways.

In an explosion of chakra, his all body started to emanate electricity, chidori to be more specific.

Itachi quickly took his foot out of his brother's body and moved backwards, surprised about this technique. It had reached his foot and leg and for some minutes his whole extremity felt asleep.

That surely angered him.

Itachi looked at Sasuke for a while, then turned around to leave. But suddenly stopped when a thought crossed his mind, a very useful one.

"Can I finish him?" Kisame said with a very amused tone. He was looking expecting at Itachi, with that sadistic face of him.

"No. We will take him with us" Itachi said without looking at him.

"Why is that all of a sudden?" Kisame was somewhat depressed. He really wanted to smash that boy's bones with his Samehada.

"We need the information he might possess", and with that he started walking. Kisame neared Sasuke and gave him one strong punch on the stomach to leave him unconscious. Then he threw him roughly over his shoulder and started walking beside Itachi.

* * *

Sakura had been walking through the village all day. She went to the places team seven used to go. 

The training field filled her with sorrow, to see those three logs where Naruto had been tied. That had been their start as ninjas, as a team...a team that had disappeared long time ago.

The memorial, the one she had been afraid of looking at when Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru, where she had cried so many times because of him.

The Ramen shop, when they tried to see Kakashi's face...

Finally the bridge, so many memories in there...

Every day in the mornings they had waited for Kakashi, who always arrived saying one thousand excuses for being late.

She stood at the edge of it, resting her arms on the rail. Her eyes drifted to the water and looked at her changed reflection.

'Feels like Déjà vu'. The last time she had been there like that, Sasuke wasn't with them either. It was the same sadness, the same pain that gripped her throat.

Because of him.

Again.

Wasn't love supposed to fill the soul?, to make you happy?, then why her love had only made her cry?

It was unfair. In spite of all her efforts to make his life nicer, to make him happy and see him smile, he had always remained hidden beneath that cold exterior, he had always treated her like shit, as if she was useless, always reminding her that she meant nothing for him, that she was just annoying.

_'You are...annoying'_

_'You really are...annoying'_

And why?, why if she had given so much of her for him, if she had offered all she was and could be to him?

Definitely unfair.

But then again, he never showed any sign of attraction to her, he never feed up her love expectations. He never lied to her...well, not before her illness at least..

After that, he had been behaving oddly with her, it even seemed as if he had liked her, or maybe he had lusted her...who knows.

It had been her fault too...for believing that he would love her back, that he would say one day that he wanted her by his side for the rest of his life...

Stupid girl.

But leaving behind her ingenuousness and all her mistakes, he had been harsh with her. She did not deserved that sort of treatment.

Before, she had been weak, naive, and childish. But now she wasn't. She was strong and she was becoming a very pretty woman.

She didn't deserve this.

He didn't deserve her.

Suddenly she felt so angry with him...with her. She couldn't blame him for her love disgrace. She could only blame herself, and that surely hurt. She felt guilty, stupid, and ashamed for being such an idiot.

It was so easy to just blame him. All her mistakes could be his. But they weren't.

That's when all her love started to become in hatred, and revenge didn't seem such a stupid choice.

He wouldn't change, and she didn't love the person he had became. She loved Sasuke, not Orochimaru's pupil.

She unconsciously tightened her fists, so hard her knuckles went white.

She didn't love a monster.

Sakura had turned down an invitation from Naruto to go out. He wanted to go to Ichiraku's, but she didn't feel at all like it.

She had needed to be alone and think.

Now that all seemed clearer for her, she wanted, needed Naruto's company. So she went to his apartment.

Naruto had been so kind to her since the first day. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto had always been by her side, supporting her every time she fell.

Somewhere inside her, the thought that she had behaved with Naruto as Sasuke did with her, hit a sensitive spot inside her.

The guilt.

Yes, she had been mean where Naruto had been her most loyal friend.

She decided to buy some ramen at Ichiraku's to eat with Naruto in his place. She knew it was his favourite, so she asked for an extra portion for him.

"Hey, I haven't seen Naruto here for a while, do you know what happened to him?", the old man asked her. She didn't know that, it was strange of him anyways, because he spent eight of the seven days of the week eating ramen here.

"He must be on a mission", she lied as not to worry the old man.

"I see" were his last words before passing her the food, nicely folded in two boxes.

'Knock knock' and she waited the for a long time before Naruto opened the door slowly, to reveal himself in his pajamas and with one of his eyes closed, the other half-opened.

"Sakura chan?", he said a little lost and still asleep. A yawn followed his words.

"He-llo Naruto!" she said happily with a wide smile. "I rethought your invitation, so I bought ramen for us to eat", she showed the boxes as to prove her point.

"Oh... uhmmm -yawn- REALLY??, come in!, I'll be ready in no time...come in! Wait for me a little ok?!", he woke up in a second and was already being the outrageous boy she knew.

She laughed.

The house was a total mess, which didn't surprise her. But to find Naruto sleeping did. He usually didn't sleep during the day, he was always training, or eating ramen, or whatever thing he did on the day but definitely not taking a nap.

'Strange again'

So she opened the boxes and served the food on the table.

'It smells good...damn, I'm so hungry'

"Naruto! Hurry up or I'll eat you ramen!"

He rushed in at the mention of his ramen being taken away from him.

"So...why were you sleeping?"

"I didn't have anything to do, plus I was tired"

"That is so unlike you"

He laughed nervously.

"Yeah...but it doesn't hurt me to take one day free, you know?", he said laughing. "By the way...why did you change your mind, Sakura chan?"

"I just thought that spending the day with you wouldn't hurt me at all", she joked, "I definitely prefer that than depressing myself all day", she laughed inwardly at Naruto's reaction. He blushed madly and looked down, giving her an uncomfortable chuckle as a reply.

"Well...I'm glad you are feeling better now..."

She loved when he smiled with the eyes. It was pure and sincere, it showed his real self, the one she had come to appreciate.

Such was the moment.

It made her happy to have him by her side.

By the time they ended eating, the day had became night, and they didn't even realize. The eating itself didn't last much, they had been both starving like hell, so the food disappeared in an instant. It was the conversation that kept them both entertained.

"The perverted sannin said that Akatsuki were still behind me" Naruto said with a little of sorrow.

"Still? But they were supposed to do that long time ago"

"Yeah...but you know?, I'm much stronger this time, so they can come again, all of them if they want, and they will only get their asses kicked!"

"I don't doubt that", she chuckled.

"What does that mean?, I'm strong! and it's not because of the kyuubi" he said proudly.

"Funny, because that's the reason of their hunting" she said while scratching her eye.

"They will be surprised, yeah!"

"I heard many jinchuurikis from different places had already been taken...maybe you're the last one"

"I know...that makes me special, doesn't it?" he said smiling, which caused Sakura to laugh softly.

'You are special for so many more reasons, Naruto'

"Naruto...I wanted to tell you something that had been bothering me lately", she said seriously.

"What is it?"

"Well...I wanted to apologize for my behavior with you...I had been so idiot with you...I've always treated you bad and mocked you...and you instead had been so sweet and caring...it makes me feel so bad...", her heart pounding of pain, "I'm so sorry"

"You don't have to be sorry...Sakura chan...you're one of the most important persons to me, you know?...don't worry about it...it's past", he said tenderly.

She locked her gaze with his and her heart didn't hurt so much. She felt happy to hear Naruto held no spites.

"Thank you...for...for loving me so much...", she whispered at the same time a strong blush made her cheeks to burn.

Naruto smiled in a way she had never seen before, but it made her chest warm, and tugged the corners of her lips giving her an ear-to-ear smile.

She was so glad of her change of plans today.

* * *

The next day Naruto went on a mission. He said that he was happy of being an ANBU captain, but it was sure exhausting. Sakura laughed and told him that he was becoming lazier with the passing of years. Look at you, first I find you sleeping in the middle of the day and now you complain of being an ANBU captain! 

It was funny how everything had changed so much. Included her.

Besides her new power, new abilities and strength, her personality had suffered a lot. She still had some of the cheeriness that characterized her before, but now she was much...calmer. And unlike before, anger was frequently present on her thoughts. She felt down many times in a day, but she didn't show it. It wasn't like her at all...But it was the pain, the pain in the memories that kept her bound to the guilt, the sadness.

She hated that feeling, of self-pity, of shame.

Kakashi usually tried to lift her mood, he was the first to notice anyways, but it only lasted a moment. When she returned to her home, the walls became much bigger and darker, and there was nothing but to cry.

At least it was useful during missions. It made her act colder, killing her opponent without hesitating, accomplishing her missions in top timing.

She was a better killer now.

That thought bothered her a lot. It remembered her of Itachi, and was afraid of ending up like him, or like Sasuke.

Fortunately she had Naruto with her to remember her that her heart was still warm, and that a thing such as love could exist in her.

She really loved him, though nothing had happened between them yet.

The first thing she always did when she arrived from a mission was to run and see him, maybe drink something with him or eat ramen, or simply talk. She was so comfortable around him...

"Miss Sakura, Tsunade sama wants to see you, she's in her office", a nurse broke her thoughts and remembered her that she was still on the hospital, and supposedly doing her work.

"Ok, thanks" she said. Her cup of coffee kept her awake and energized for her patients. But it also made her go away with her thoughts into a world of reflection, where time and duties didn't exist.

'Damn' Sakura walked to the Hokage's office, wondering what she would want with her this late in the night. The corridors normally agitated were a pleasure to walk in during the nights, they were silent and relaxing, and except for three or four medics running to save some lives, the hospital remained silent.

When she arrived at Tsunade's office, she found her looking through her window with a worried face.

"Sit down, please", she said without turning to look at her.

"Why did you call me at this hour, Tsunade shishou?", she sat down and waited patiently for her reply.

"No other woman is competent enough, Sakura...only you can do this, but before, I have to tell you something very important"

Sakura was starting to worry.

"Listen...you have a great probability of developing a special doujutsu...maybe even the Sharingan"

"WHAT?!, Sharingan??...but, how is that?!"

"Haven't you been feeling weird in the last time?, haven't you eyes been itching a lot? don't you feel your eyesight tired without reason?...well, it's because your eyes are adjusting to the blood limit you received when the transfusion had place"

That was true, she had been feeling all those nuisances lately, but it never crossed her mind that it could be something like this.

"But...it had passed so much time from that...plus, wouldn't I need an Uchiha eye to do that?"

"That's why I say that you **could** develop the Sharingan, and that's the reason you are the indicated person to do this"

Sharingan...wasn't that too much? For a moment she felt excited. Only two persons in the world had it naturally and one had one half of it. It was indeed a big thing, to posses such abilities that is. But then she felt bad. It was like stolen, it was not right. Definitely not right.

"Not listen, this is your mission" Tsunade said.

Damn...she wasn't prepared for this.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I've been a little busy with school and all. 

I think this where the action begins! yay! This was more like an introductory part, to know how the characters are and all the context. And yeah, one person discovered my intentions about the sharingan P Is it so predictable? hehe...Well, the action part was a hell for me, really, so if you don't like it...sorry, I tried my best xD I'll have to improve on it anyways...And sorry if there are grammatical errors...

I hope you like this one, and thanks a lot for your beautiful reviews...I really love to read them, it makes me want to keep writing and get better, you are a big support for me in this. Thank you!!!! Please keep reviewing, and tell me if something didn't like you and why, please...I'm trying to improve.

Love you!!!!


	4. Mia

I have you in my skin...in my breath...in every word that comes out of my lips...

Who am I now?

(all characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto...sadly T.T)

* * *

Chapter four 

"I hate it"

"Sakura chan, you look cool!"

"Thanks Naruto, but I simply hate it"

Haruno Sakura was standing in front of her mirror, with the saddest expression Naruto had ever seen on her face.

"It's so...depressing"

"I think it's sexy"

"Naruto! Don't take it there!"

"Sorry...well, you can just think that it will be over soon"

"Not so soon", Sakura was at the verge of crying. It wasn't just that she had painted her hair of black; it was the reason why she had to do it that worried her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes...would you walk me to the gates?"

"Yeah! Sure", Naruto took her bags and the two of them walked out of her apartment. She took a quick glance at it for she felt it would be the last time.

A searing pain, a pressure took possession of her chest, and she could do nothing but close her eyes and fill her mind with reasons over reasons of why to do this. Of course, only one kept repeating itself, in spite of her efforts to keep it away.

'Sasuke'

Always is your fault, every little thing that goes wrong in my life is because of you.

_"Do you know why you have to do this?"_

_"To get information"_

_"Exactly, everything you can find out about them, even what they eat"_

_"I will"_

_"Do you know who is among them, do you?"_

_"Yes"_

_"Ok, you will leave the next week"_

_"Should I keep it a secret?"_

_"It's classified"_

_"Naruto... can I tell him at least?"_

_"It wouldn't be prudent, but I trust that kid to shut his mouth, so if you really need to tell him, then do it, but none else" _

_"Ok...thank you Tsunade shishou...Bye then"_

_"Farewell...Sakura"_

The gates seemed so much bigger than she remembered them to be, they seemed menacing, like warning her not to cross them. The knot in her stomach tightened painfully

"Well, I guess this is how far you can walk me"

"But, don't worry, I'll be thinking about you everyday so it'll be like I'm accompany you" His trademark smile flashed through the darkening sky directed to her again, just that this time it didn't make her laugh, or gave her confidence, it didn't give her a reassuring feeling.

It made her cry.

"Sakura chan! Don't cry! Listen, you are a great Kunoichi, the best I know after that old hag Tsunade, so you will do this mission without a problem, and you will comeback safe and alive, with tons and tons of information...see? You are more that capable!"

"I think I can do it...but..."

But what?, she knew herself as a great ninja. So what if she had to do this mission?

_"There are some risks, and you should know it"_

_"Which are they?"_

_"Listen, Sakura, your blood is unique, and as such is a double keen blade"_

_"Cut to the point, please"_

_"Ok, above all the risks you already know, there is a chance of developing some...problems with your unnatural blood limit..._"

"But nothing, now go and kick some asses! I'll be waiting here for you, so go and do your best!" Naruto grabbed her softly by the shoulders and leaded her to the gates. His mind fighting to keep a smile, while his heart wanted to vanish it.

Then she turned around and for the first time, she hugged him, so hard it was difficult for him to breathe, so lovingly it made his heart plunge out of his chest, so tenderly it made him cry too.

He should be happy, he should be jumping of joy because the girl of his dreams was making such intimate contact with him. But instead of happiness there was anguish, instead of joy there was pain.

"Sakura chan..." He was speechless, he could only embrace her in return.

It felt like a thousand years for them, but still, it wasn't enough. She would be going in a terribly dangerous mission now and was leaving behind all her friends and world.

Without even accomplishing her first ambition.

Without looking at him, she quickly released him and jumped to a nearby tree, to start her journey, her damned mission.

Naruto stood there, looking at her lost figure, unable to control the great flow of tears running down his cheek.

'You will comeback, Sakura chan...'

* * *

She dragged herself through the corridors until she found her room's door. She opened it with a kick and entered. She quickly moved towards the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Her dirty, ragged clothes fell to the tile floor and she threw herself unceremoniously into the bathtub. The cuts and wounds burned like hell, but she needed the hot water for the healing process to be easier. 

'First, the ribs', three broken ribs to be exact. Slowly she put them back in place and reconstructed the flesh around them.

'Now the arm and leg', she bit her lower lip as to endure the pain that her limbs were giving her.

She ended the healing with her wrenched fingers. A long sigh left her mouth when she felt a great improve in her condition.

'Only five left', she though when the images of her recent fight flooded into her tired mind. Five left of the list of twenty men she had to kill. Tsunade herself had given her that list. It consisted on a group of missing nins from different countries, that she had had the displeasure of killing. One corrupt feudal lord -killed-, five businessmen that had had something to do with a money fraud in the Wind country -one already killed-, and her final target, the one she would have the pleasure of killing.

Orochimaru.

She had already decided that she would kill him lastly. Just to enjoy it to its fully extents.

Sakura had discovered with this mission her sadistic, bloodthirsty side. Not too bad for someone who wanted to enter the circle of a very dangerous organization that was full of sadistic, bloodthirsty maniacs.

But she couldn't help the nausea that brought her the scent of blood that was left in her hands after she killed an enemy.

Sakura could not do it. Mia could.

She also discovered that playing Mia's character was easier if she let inner Sakura to see the sun light. She was accomplishing her mission very well. Mia was becoming a very known killer, wanted by three countries because of the information she possessed about the missing nins she had already killed. Even some ANBU squads from Konoha were after her. Funny, because they would pretend they didn't find her if their meeting had place. It was her mission after all.

Good, her skin tone was healthier, though the skin where her bone had popped out promised to leave an ugly big scar.

Her eyelids felt heavy and the soothing water lured her deep into Morpheus kingdom.

* * *

"Orochimaru", she said with venom at the bleeding figure that was lying under her foot. His lifeless eyes complimented the horror expression of his face. 

She had used it.

Sakura didn't know she could, but it had been quite easy. She just had to think of something that angered her.

She thought of Sasuke.

And Orochimaru couldn't resist.

She was starting to feel the consequences of using that technique. She remembered when they had been on this mission in the Water country, long time ago. Kakashi used it and fell unconscious afterwards. She couldn't afford falling unconscious now. But the throbbing headache and the big amount of tears that were forming in her eyes told her that it might happen, so she hurried.

She needed this event to be known, so she carried his corpse to the sound village, and placed him in front of the government building that, ironically, had been his. A couple saw her doing it, and that was enough. By the morning the entire country of Sound would know about it. They would know that it had been the Snake. She moved like one so she didn't mind the nickname.

It had been a long mission. One year and a half, and still, she didn't have the desired fame. But with Orochimaru's murder she would obtain it. It was a matter of days before the Akatsuki find out.

Her dyed black hair moved sensually under the moonlight. It was time to leave. The first part of her mission had been accomplished, and now, she needed to rest.

Her chest hurt, and it wasn't because of the wound that had almost pierced her heart...it was a different kind of pain. It was deep, it touched something that any weapon could, and she couldn't heal it. Her past had created it. And Sasuke...

And his damned Sharingan.

She was useful for this mission because of it, anyways. But she never asked for it. That day, when Tsunade had told her about this option, she never guessed it could feel this wrong.

It was her curse. The man she once loved lived inside of her, and this was a constant reminding of that fact.

'Run...Sakura', run away from this world and avoid any memory that binds you to him, and his being.

She kept repeating to herself that the tears that filled her eyes, were because of the doujutsu she had just used.

* * *

One night in a bar, located in a very hidden village, was Sakura, trying to figure out how and where to find them. All she had heard until now was that they traveled in pairs, and that none had ever seen their leader, except for them. This was absurd because that was something she had been informed when she had been told about this mission, so she was in zero now, without a clue to begin with. 

"Hey beauty, what are you doing in such a nasty place?"

'Damn, just what I needed, one drunk _male_'

"Just waiting for someone", she replied politely.

"You could get hurt...want to wait _somewhere else_ with _some_ company?" The man was looking at her with shimmering perverted eyes, those that made her want to take the skin out of his face.

Damn pervert.

"No thanks I'm ok like this"

He seemed a little disturbed, so he left, walking with difficulty. She was glad.

Absent-mindedly she played with her hair, now black, and observed the place. It was quiet and nice, good environment, good music. It wasn't too big, but instead it was warm, like a place to cuddle.

She was seating in a corner, in a table for two, drinking a dry Martini. Next to her was a couple of lovers. At the center she could see a big cloud of cigarette smoke hiding a group of friends in a big table. In the bar was a blonde and a tall, very tall man. She couldn't see clearly their faces, but she immediately recognized their attire.

'Perfect'

Sakura glanced at them from time to time, just to watch over them, enjoying her drink and thinking of a plan to meet them 'casually'.

The taller man left for what she supposed to be a bathroom break, so she stood up taking advantage of the moment. She sat next to the blonde without looking at him, instead, she tried to flirt with the barman, just to make sure her plan worked perfectly and left no tracks to follow. She assumed a bored expression.

The blond man noticed her and turned around in her direction. Sakura glanced at him and stopped her sight on him. She had to suppress the gasp that attempted to leave her throat.

He was handsome.

She felt a light blush creep up to her cheeks.

'Damn, Sakura, you have more control than this'

"Hey girl" He said with a more than obvious seductive tone of voice.

"Hey" she replied nervous.

"You look bored, are you waiting for someone?" He smirked at her.

"Oh...no, no... I'm alone. I just came here to have some drinks and some fun", she said putting in march her plan.

"By your face I'd say that you only achieved the first one...yeah"

"Yeah, it's nice here, but really, right now it would be impossible for me have some fun, so maybe drinks do the trick"

Maybe _you_ could do the trick.

"Maybe a good dance could lift your mood"

"Perhaps"

"Ok, now that I know your story it wouldn't be polite to let you stay bored, don't you think?" He said while leaning closer to Sakura.

"Yeah...I think so", she said insinuating in between a widening smirk.

"I know a place near here. The dance floor is great, and so are the drinks...yeah"

"So...what are we waiting for?" Sakura smiled at him and stood up. She was entertained by his way of speaking, plus, he didn't seem the raping kind of guy.

In that moment his partner returned, and the blonde made some signals to him, something to indicate where to meet after, but she couldn't catch it, so she pretended she didn't notice.

They walked along the street, the night breeze refreshing her and giving her back the oxygen that was taken away from her at the bar.

It was a starless night sky above them, and only the streetlights illuminated the lack of a crowd, always present under the sun.

'Bah...fools, the night is so much better"

"By the way, what's your name?, I'm sorry I forget to ask you before. I'm Deidara...yeah" His deep voice interrupting her train of thoughts.

"I'm s..."

'Be convincing!'

"Mia...Gennosuke Mia"

"Mia...", he said like tasting her name "...nice, yeah"

She looked at him with big eyes and couldn't contain the laughter that exploded like a pent-up feeling.

'He reminds me of Naruto', she thought vaguely.

"Oh, there is it, the place that I told you about", he said and pointed with a finger the building that was in front of them.

The guards looked suspiciously at them, but she concluded that it was because of Deidara and his known attire.

She suddenly felt a warm hand grab her wrist and before she would react as Sakura would, she had to remember who she was now.

So she squealed.

He was dragging her to the dance floor. In no time, they were dancing slowly, following the rhythm of the music.

It was a song she used to listen when their three-men team had been just formed. It was very nostalgic.

The multi-colored lights were moving all around the place, creating a surreal image that Sakura could not run away from. The steps were slow and she was loosing her mind with his masculine scent. The people seemed more and more distant until they were alone. She was alone, dancing with an Akatsuki, who happened to her target.

Wake up Sakura.

She did it anyways, thanks to a man that brushed her ass. She, too drunk in the moment to think clearly, turned around and in two seconds the man was flying away from them, with his nose broken.

When Deidara's chuckle reached her ears, she realized what she had just done.

'Crap'

But his smirk was telling her that her plan was still working, and that she just precipitated a little some actions.

"Wow, that was cool, where did you learn that, yeah?" Deidara looked at her with an anxious face.

"Well...I think you can suppose that by now..." she said amused.

"Kunoichi...I think I know you...", he said and observed her meticulously.

"It's very possible..."

"That depends...have you killed some legendary sannin recently?" he said, half-joking, half-asking.

"Strike..."

"So...you are..." He fell silent and thought about something. "I need to take you with me, I'm sorry...yeah". He hit her neck with a sound speed move, and Sakura fell unconscious to his arms.

'Mission accomplished...', were her last thoughts.

"Leader will be happy to meet you...yeah!" He said and carried her to a small alley, where he would meet Kisame.

"Who's she?" He asked with a raspy voice.

"The Snake...yeah", Deidara said triumphantly.

"That little...thing?, no...you were fooled by a little bitch", Kisame said mockingly.

"I didn't! you did not see her, so you don't know! yeah!", Deidara was loosing his temper. Kisame only laughed.

"Are you going to take her to the leader?"

"Of course!"

"I bet this will be the only time in which we will see him laugh...hysterically" he said and busted into a loud laughter.

"I will SO kill you...sharky!" Deidara countered.

"What??!!...you...mouthed hand freak!" And so they continued through the night, without knowing what they were about to start.

* * *

A/N: lame ending...hehehe...sorry... 

Thanks for the reviews, especially the constructive ones, they really help me...the thing of grammar...thanks ;)

Well, not much to say, just that this story took me so long because I have been very busy, but thank you for the ones that are following this story, it motivates me to keep writing, so...just thanks. If there are any suggestions, if the characters are too OCC or anything to make this story better, is absolutely accepted.

Please review!!!

PD: I'm searching for a beta reader, if any of you is interested, please email me (needs to be a person whose native language is English)


	5. Sinking in

I'm falling deep and fast into this world I don't like. What to do if the enemy is me but not myself?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. They are Masashi Kishimoto's.

* * *

Dark...Rough...

Uncomfortable...

Where was she?

Cold...

Was this real? The pain on her muscles was telling her it was. But she was totally disoriented. It was like floating in a void, with nothing to recognize around her. She couldn't tell if she was thinking or talking. Nothing to see...everything was so dark...she closed her eyes, at least that's what she thought because she didn't know if she had them already opened...Her limbs were separating from her body...she couldn't feel them, no arms, no legs...no nothing...

Suddenly, a sound that seemed like an explosion filled the space, followed by a blinding light. She was so scared that she didn't notice the way all the corners of her room started to show or that the 'blinding light' was a dim candlelight. Then she saw, very disappointedly, that her special and odd dimension was nothing but a room...

No, wait...a cave?

A cave with no ventilation.

Soon the screech of a heavy iron door opening was heard. There, in the threshold, stood a figure, outlined by the exterior light.

Bit by bit, it was becoming clearer that it hadn't been the best option to let herself be carried unconscious to the Akatsuki quarters.

'Crap'

Uchiha Itachi was looking down at her, with his ruby eyes shining, like an unholy fire, in the dim candlelight. His very being radiated intimidation, making her feel as tiny and defenseless as a bug.

For a moment, her senses were filled with a fear that was emanating from every pore of her body. Being lost in her fear of the dark Uchiha, Sakura was not aware to her own trembling, or the sweat that formed on her forehead.

Or the little noises she made when breathing.

Or the pleading look of her eyes.

But her fear was short lived. And like a blanket being removed, her fear was lifted off the young woman leaving instead a determined, confident and fearless Kunoichi.

This girl was definitely weird.

"I'm going to ask you some questions. Please cooperate." Itachi's smooth voice traveled to her ears in a soft rhythm.

"I'm Uchiha Itachi...Your name?" he continued.

"Gennosuke Mia" She said as naturally as if it were truly her born name. With time Sakura had grown accustomed to that question.

"Right, Mia-san." Itachi said her name as if testing it. "You're a missing nin." He asked, but it was more like a statement.

"Yes, from Konoha", she replied. She started to worry a little when the frown on his forehead increased, and a sudden coldness filled his eyes.

"What do you know about Orochimaru?"

"That he's dead. Many of his techniques and that he was once part of this organization." This was it. This was probably the most dangerous part of her mission. Her options were limited here on out. She would either be killed or incorporated into the Akatsuki, but one thing was certain; they would never let her go alive.

"What do you want with Akatsuki?"

"To join you." The words came out slower than she had preferred. He just stared at her, like digesting her words and carefully thinking of his next question.

"There is a series of requirements for anyone who wants to enter. Do you think you can meet them?"

"I'm strong enough to kill one of the legendary Sannin and I still want to become stronger. I'm a missing nin and I have this..." She showed her secret weapon.

A ring.

Not any ring, but a special one.

This one ring had belonged to Orochimaru when he was Akatsuki. Sakura knew she would be searched when she came upon the Akatsuki so she had carefully stored it under her clothes.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of the ring. It was a symbol of Orochimaru's membership into the Akatsuki. It had been sought after when Orochimaru had left but none wanted to kill the snake traitor until the Jinchuuriki missions were completed. Sakura knew that having the ring allowed her a chance to go before the Leader to ask for a position into Akatsuki.

"So it's true...you are the one that is known as The Snake"

"I am. I killed him, then I searched for the information he might possess. I found out about you all and the importance of this ring, aside from all the techniques I memorized." The truth was that Orochimaru had been dying when she found him, which made possible his death.

_'Orochimaru...'_

_'I remember you sweetie. Tell me, why have you come this far?'_

_'To kill you.'_

_He laughed._

'_I'm already dead, dear. Your precious Sasuke-kun made sure of that.'_

He was the only one who recognized her. She couldn't understand why.

"Follow me please." Itachi stood up and opened the door. He waited until she was standing behind him before he started to walk. They moved through a long "corridor" that was nothing more than a pile of rocks with a long divot carved in the middle where candles illuminated their way.

Her stomach tightened. She didn't know what was going to happen next. She was anxious and even a little scared. Adrenaline started to pump through all of her body as they walked. Sakura knew that she was treading in dangerous waters now. Anything could happen; she had to think carefully through everything, to what she says next, to her breathing and even down to her steps. There was no room for mistakes now. She had to be perfect. She couldn't let Itachi, nor the rest to see through her act.

He could only see Mia.

He had to believe she was Mia.

But even as Mia, Sakura could not help but show up. Mia had no ties to Itachi while Sakura did through his brother. So any dislike for Itachi could not be from Mia but from Sakura with her issue with Sasuke that was still like a fresh wound.

Itachi's thoughts drifted to his foolish brother as they walked. This girl reminded him of Sasuke. He didn't know why, but he didn't like it. He didn't like her.

Sasuke was giving them little pieces of information. It had been like that since his capture.

He was such a whimsical brat.

Perhaps he should let him go, give him another chance. He wasn't interested in him anyways, not now at least. Itachi had been so disappointed when he realized how weak his brother was. He was hoping for a challenge, and only found a weak and overconfident brat.

Well, that was something he would decide later.

* * *

Tears...sobs...tears...

'Sakura-chan.'

'Where are you? '

Hidden from the world, sat Naruto in the save haven of his darken room. He sat on the edge of his bed, with his back facing the window.

One year and a half...And no Sakura.

During the first months he kept repeating himself that she was going to arrive soon.

She didn't.

His heart bounced painfully. He had felt the same with Sasuke.

During the day, he trained, laughed, talked and made for a normal life. It was during the nights that the memories of a pink -now black- haired princess flooded his mind. He silently whished for her return with every tear that fell from his eyes.

He was sick with love.

Love for a girl that was now a ghost of a memory. One that visited him every night, every second.

* * *

'It doesn't look so bad.' Sakura was admiring the ring on her little finger. It had the kanji for 'sky', 'sora', engraved in it. She hated the way a simple ring could bring her back such unpleasant memories. It reminded her of Orochimaru; he in turn, reminded her of Sasuke.

Sasuke...

She hadn't thought about him lately, a big relief for her heart which hurt so much for him. When she accepted this mission, she did it while thinking only of him. It would be a great opportunity to search for him. One she could not pass up. She always had the hope of finding him; at an inn, on a restaurant, on a shop, behind a tree...

She played with thousands of scenarios in which she could find him. She fed on many possibilities day after day. She hungered for the day she would find him and still, she hadn't.

Sakura at least had accomplished the first half of her mission. She had hoped that that accomplishment would give her some hint as to where Sasuke was. It had not.

'Forget that already.' Her throat was starting to tighten. Her gaze lowered to the ring again.

It served as a reminding of what she was now.

Akatsuki.

Yeah, she had made it, although it had been as difficult as hell. She waited three long months before the leader would accept her. She was lucky that the only position free was the one that Orochimaru had left. And that was all because of this ring.

"Mia! hurry up!" Deidara's voice called. She looked up and soon followed him.

Today was a special day for the Akatsuki.

Many of them had died and the vacancy those deaths left have been filled. With her joining them, they where finally complete again. And as such they gathered on the center of the compound, awaiting Leader. Some faces were absolutely unknown to her. Some others weren't.

"As you can notice, we are complete. That means we have to reorganize the teams." The leader talked with a strong voice.

"Judging by your abilities, specialties and level, the two-man team will continue. Here is the list." He opened a scroll and started reading names.

"Kisame and Deidara, Itachi and Mia, Hidan..." What?! She had been teamed up with Itachi?!

...Oh...this would start to get ugly...

After the names have been called, the meeting ended and everyone reunited with their new partners. Leader assigned each team a mission, save for Itachi and Mia. Because the two of them were from Konoha, they had to continue Itachi's searching of the Kyuubi.

'Naruto'...She could finally know why they wanted him.

Sakura missed him so much. Many times she had regretted her behavior the last days they were together. She had come to the conclusion that she loved him -and could freely accept it now- and that she wanted to be by his side. But how could she, if she was losing herself into this play?

She was afraid of getting more involved than she already was. Afraid of becoming more like Mia and less like Sakura.

'He's waiting for me...I can't forget him.' Yes...he said it, didn't he? That he would be thinking about her everyday, so she could feel his company.

A smile formed on her features, but she quickly came back to being Mia.

"Mia-san, I'd like to see your abilities." Itachi interrupted her thoughts. She shot him a death glare.

'Damn, why wasn't I teamed up with Deidara?'

"Sure...shall we spar?" She said, faking a smile as she went.

"Hn." He acquired a fighting stance and looked at her with his cold Uchiha eyes.

An odd feeling created inside of her at the sight of those eyes...they were so familiar...

'Sasuke...'

She tried to suppress the knot forming on her throat again.

It didn't work.

* * *

A/N: Well...another chapter, though this is special, because it was made with the help of my new beta (yay!) PsychoKitty. Thanks a lot for your work and punctuality. .

Let's see...some things are developing, and I have trouble with it 'cause it's too fast...I hope you don't mind. Is just that I hate the stories that are more detail than story x), but maybe I rush too much...don't know. The difficult part comes now, 'cause Itachi will be appearing a lot, and he is such a difficult character...damn . If he's too OCC please let me know it. There is nothing that I hate most than a bad characterized Itachi.

Thanks to all of you who replied to my beta calling xD, I hope you don't mind...:P

Oh, and thanks for your reviews...I love them!! pleaaaseee, if you read this story, leave a review, it's important for the author :D

LOVE YAAA!!


	6. Smile

The world can keep spinning around and remain the same. The same dawn, the same sunset, the same scent of flowers every day, but me...I won't ever be the same. Never again.

I don't own Naruto or any of its characters...sadly...

* * *

Chapter six 

Morning found Itachi changing his clothes because he needed to prepare himself for their journey. The recent practice served more as a test of confidence than as an act of bonding with his new partner. Itachi needed to know if the girl would be of use or slow him down. Better to find out now than in real battle.

The importance of their mission has set a heavy tone for the new partners. Itachi, though he will never voice this aloud, felt the girl was rushed to his side. That it was premature to trust her with anything, let alone this. But what is done is done and Leader is never questioned.

Itachi looked around the small room he temporarily called home. Home, what does that really mean to an Akatsuki? They are bound to no village, no country, only to a goal. And when you live only for a goal, borders fade into meaningless lines on a map and villages no longer have names or importance. There is no time for a home. Akatsuki are always moving, and when they do stay in one place it was never long. For if they do stay long, borders crop back up and villages start to have names, they have people you remember. You start to become attached and next thing you know, you have a home. And then you become weak. So, to keep that from happening, Akatsuki never stay. In order to meet their goal they needed to travel around the world seeking new techniques, new abilities and above all, power.

Of course they were common clients of inns and hotels, and often returned to some once again. Even some bars and pubs they may revisit. Suddenly the image of Kisame all drunk on a bar one night came to Itachi. Disgusted with the memory and the time he wasted thinking about it, Itachi resumed his task. There was much to if they wanted to finally catch the Kyuubi.

But the image of a drunken Kisame came back and Itachi thought about the man's love for sake. He, himself, did not like to drink too much. A cup of sake once in a while, but nothing more, it slowed his movements and diminished his alert state. Thinking about that, he was reminded of his training session with Mia. She had gotten a shot in on him. Further proof to his distaste that he was, somehow, becoming weak. Maybe he was not training hard enough? Itachi made a mental note to train harder.

This mission needed him to be in the top of his game. The mission was no different from before. Well, except from one thing. He had a female partner. At least he had seen her abilities and had an idea of what she could do.

His sparring session had turned to be very interesting, even more than previously thought.

The new girl was indeed strong, not as much as he wished, but she had the potential he needed in a partner.

The session had given proof that it was true that she had memorized some of Orochimaru's powerful techniques. Itachi rubbed a sore muscle in remembrance of being a witness to such proof. The girl was indeed something. She somehow was able to even create her own powerful techniques off of what she had stolen from the snake traitor. However, even without the techniques, her physical strength was beyond human comprehension. He still could not understand how a thin girl of no more than eighteen years old could break down a whole stone wall with just her fist and do it so effortlessly. She had even managed to hurt him a little. Just a little.

The thing that bothered Itachi was that for such a thin girl who couldn't scare a cat nor a fly, who did not fit the rest of Akatsuki appearance wise, could actually be intimidating and overwhelming.

Mia had shown such ferocity when fighting, such determination in her eyes that he couldn't deny that Leader had been right.

She had totally proved him wrong.

She was very useful in combat.

"Itachi-san, I'm ready" Her feminine voice called from the other side the iron door of his room. He finished buttoning his cloak and walked across the cold room. The high shriek of the heavy door opening pierced his delicate ears, earning a disgust expression on the always collected Uchiha.

At least he wouldn't be here for much longer.

The freezing hallway made his muscles tighten in protest at the sudden change of temperature. He thought it was uncomfortable, but of course, he paid no attention to it.

The Kunoichi was leaning on the wall next to his door with a little bag placed on the ground beside her.

She seemed to match the cold environment in an odd way. Her dark hair and pale skin made her look like a creature from the underworld, hiding from light and life itself. That was until she opened her eyes and its green brightness shattered the dark scene. Itachi closed the door behind him and again the infuriating screech made him want to blow it to pieces.

"Let's go." He said shortly and walked with calm steps toward the outside.

Sakura followed, mentally cursing her luck for having him as her partner.

Her objective had been the Leader, of course. That would have been perfect for her mission. But when was life ever perfect? Not for her at least. The only component in her life that she could call 'perfect' was Naruto. And she had gone on this stupid mission, miles away from him.

The sudden thought of the loud blonde reminded her of her mission as an Akatsuki, hunting him down. She needed to inform Tsunade about this and fast.

Sakura did not know if she even could stop Itachi from taking Naruto if she wanted to. Not without blowing her cover. But what are the odds of her completing her mission and saving Naruto at the same time? She had never once saved his life during her time with him. It had always been him who saved her. She felt helpless even now when he needed her saving. But this time it had to be different, it _would_ be different. They were both much stronger and no matter what, she wouldn't let Itachi or anyone hurt him.

Sakura was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Itachi's sudden turn to the left, instead she continued straight towards the exit. His sudden absence awoke her from her thoughts.

"Where are you going?" She asked timidly.

"I have to take care of something before we leave." Itachi replied with that deep, quiet voice of his. Sakura nodded and silently followed him.

After some time they stopped in front of an iron door similar to the rest. Itachi searched in his pocket for a key. With a scrape of metal the iron door was opened. Without a word to her, Itachi entered his figure disappearing into the darkness of the room. Sakura preferred to stay outside, but from time to time she would steal a look into the inky darkness. The poor lighting in the hallway provided no help to her eyes. It was all so dark that she could barely see that a grate with thick iron rods divided the space around the door Itachi had entered. Realization sank in, before her was a cell for prisoners. A cell that was now open.

Itachi's figure immerged from the darkness as he exited the cell. Sakura could see another form being carried over his shoulder.

'Must be the one he held captive.' She said inwardly.

Itachi's eyes did not meet hers; instead, they looked down at the dirt floor. His appearance was out of place. It did not fit the Uchiha who always held his chin high and his eyes arrogant and determined. He crossed the threshold and turn swiftly, as if the man he carried was not even there, to close the door. He did not bother to lock it.

The unconscious man had long, black hair that showed he must have been in that cell for a very long time. Dirt matted his hair and clumps stick together due to oil collected from not washing. His body was a shell of a man. Body covered with festering wounds and dried blood. His skin hanged on his bones as loosely as the torn and tattered excuse of an outfit did.

'Poor guy' Sakura thought but she had to kill that compassion from her. Mia cared for no one. But still, Sakura or Mia, she definitely wouldn't like to be in his place.

The urge to know who he was killed her. But her better judgment told her to remain silent. The Uchiha made a sound as he adjusted the man on his shoulder, a flash of irritation showed in his eyes when he looked at her. Sakura did not know if his irritation was towards the man or her, but she knew better to leave the Uchiha to himself and ignored it. She did not want to push her luck.

Sakura waited for him to pass her before falling instep with him. They moved as if Itachi held nothing, the poor man probably weighed just that. With a few more steps they had returned to the main hallway. Sakura wondered why none of the members where bind from such a living condition as they continued down the dark hallway. Soon though they came to the end and a light can be seen. Sakura could not help but feel that she was witnessing what people must see when they were about to die.

A little chuckle escaped from her. It was so funny.

Through the light they exited the hallway and entered the main hall. This was a large circle room with a high cathedral ceiling that disappeared into darkness at the top. Doors lined around the wall, it was a common thing in a ninja hideout. Some doors were phony and others lead to traps. Only member would know where to go. The hall held a sense of intimidation. The atmosphere was dense, cold, and made the body tingle with a sense of doom around them. The colossal statue placed in the middle of the hall didn't help the feeling either. It had been explained that this was some sort of God of Death and that it served to extract the jinchuuriki from the user's body.

They moved passed the statue and exited through a door on the far side. Once outside, Sakura thanked all the gods for the sunny and beautiful day that greeted them. Sakura had feared her skin would be pertinently blue thanks to the lack of sunlight and the excessive coldness of the cave. Her skin hummed with warmth as they continued their walk. The landscape was exactly the opposite of what was the cave. This was bright, shiny, and happy, it filled her soul.

The trees were leafy and the grass high and very green, hiding some flowers that enjoyed the sun as much as her. The air felt pure and refreshing, it carried the scent of those same flowers. The sound of flowing water mixed with the birds' song and the wind; all crowned with a sky as blue as her best friend's eyes.

It was so beautiful...

But when Itachi came into view, all the grass and flowers seemed to wilt, the song of the birds was no longer pleasant and the wind carried a strong scent of blood.

* * *

A soon as they arrived to the river that marked the start of the Fire country, Itachi stopped. There were always ANBU patrolling around, so it would be prudent to drop Sasuke here. 

He concentrated on his surroundings to confirm that they were alone before continuing to cross the river. Once across they came to a memorial that marked the border between the two countries. Itachi would leave his brother there. The ANBU would surely find him and take him back to Konoha.

Itachi glanced at his silent partner. Mia had been very quiet during their trip here. She had not spoken to him since they left the cell. He did not mind her silence; it was that with once having a partner like Kisame, Itachi had grown accustomed to having someone trying to initiate a conversation with him. This Mia, her silence was a drastic change.

Mia was a strong fighter but no one would be able to tell with the way she spoke. She would ask him some things here and there, expected for someone new. But once Itachi had answer her question she would fall silent.

Itachi felt her hesitate when they were approaching the statue. He looked to her to see her eyes shine with question and distrust. Smart girl.

"Why are we stopping here?" she asked him.

"We will leave him here." He simply told her. Mia nodded and looked off to check the area. Very smart girl.

Sakura was looking into the thick forest she knew so well. It had taken them a complete day to get here. The sun was setting and the sky was painted in a series of orange and yellow shades.

They should find somewhere to stay for the night she thought. And then maybe she could get him to talk about his plan to get Naruto. He still had not told her how they were going to capture him. She needed to know in order to warn Konoha.

The elder Uchiha unceremoniously dropped the body on the stone floor. The force of the drop stirred the young Uchiha awake.

The thump of the body hitting the ground gained her attention. Sakura glared at the back of Itachi at his coldness.

Itachi bent down to the body and sat it up against the memorial. A groan came from the man, his head was looking down, and so she couldn't see his face. Curiosity took the best of her and she walked to him. She bent down on her knees and saw him move. Slowly he lifted up his face.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Suddenly the oxygen wasn't enough to breathe.

'Sasuke!'

Her eyes filled with tears and she couldn't control her mind that was racing with thoughts, emotions...

She gasped and that caught both Uchiha's attention. Sasuke was slowly regaining consciousness, everything was blurred and every movement hurt. But those eyes, those green and shining eyes...he recognized them immediately.

"Sa..." He couldn't finish his sentence. Suddenly the emerald eyes he loved to look at turned to red.

Blood red.

His head dropped and his body went limp. He fell asleep again.

"Who is he?" Sakura rapidly cut him off. He had recognized her and was about to unmask her in front of Itachi.

She couldn't let that happen.

Even if her heart was falling to pieces.

Her back was facing Itachi, so he couldn't see her face, or her eyes.

She dispersed the sharingan after using it on Sasuke and swallowed hard her tears before she looked up to Itachi.

"He is my little brother." He replied narrowing his eyes. What had just happened? He heard her surprise, did she know Sasuke? Itachi watched Sakura slowly stand up and looked toward the forest again, dismissing both men. A chilling silence surrounded the three.

"He is about to die. Why don't you kill him?" She muttered out without looking at him.

'Why was he keeping him alive? Why did Itachi have him? What happened to him?' Screamed Inner Sakura. Dammit it all! She needed to know.

The tears were about to return.

"I need him alive." His dull answer came slowly from his mouth, almost like he was darning her into action.

'Damn, can't you be a little MORE vague?!' Inner Sakura screamed.

God, she hated this man and his stupid simple answers. At the end he never really answered her questions. His ability to answer a question without really saying anything at all amazed her. He never gave a satisfying answer. And Sakura was sick of it. But Mia pretended she didn't care.

"Whatever. There is a small village about a mile from here, we should hurry." She tried to keep her voice as cold as Itachi. Mia looked at Itachi before heading toward the direction of the village. Sakura sent a silent prayer to Sasuke.

Itachi said nothing.

Sakura didn't wait for him and jumped on a tree. She needed to rest, to think and be alone to cry and release all the pain that was piercing her heart. She felt him move closer to her as they moved through the trees. Sensing his closeness she speed up.

Itachi noticed her attempt to get away from him. He looked at her from behind and wondered why. Was it to do with Sasuke? He needed to ponder this later. Right now they need to rest and prepare for the capture of the Kyuubi container. They needed to gather information about Naruto's whereabouts. It was just the start of a long and tiring process.

* * *

The multi-colored lights gave this village a happy and bohemian appearance. 

There were tons of discothèques, pubs, stores and gambling places. There was also a casino that displayed beautiful neon lights next to a house of prostitutes.

This clearly wasn't a residential place.

Sakura chuckled when a prostitute invited Itachi to her room.

"...come on big boy...don't be shy!" She insisted in vain. Itachi paid no attention to her. His indifferent face reminded her so much of Sasuke.

Sakura couldn't contain the laugh when lots of prostitutes called Itachi to go with them.

He grunted, visibly annoyed and hurried the pace. They were all showing their bodies and making very funny faces to the young man. If only they knew who they were selling to.

The whole situation however, had started to annoy her. It was slowing them down as they tried to find an inn. Sakura growled as one woman pushed her to get closer to Itachi.

What was with them? They were acting like he was the last man on Earth! Ok, she had to admit that Itachi was handsome, but give the man some room!

She felt the symptoms of claustrophobia take control of her mind with the growing crowd of women. So she desperately searched her surroundings for a place to stay on her own since Itachi was to busy with the cat calls.

In the next block she could see an inn that was somewhat hidden, like a shadow in the middle of all these lights. Perfect!

Sakura was sick of these women so she hurried toward the inn.

"We can stay here. . ." Sakura didn't finish talking when she noticed Itachi has already headed toward the inn. He somehow passed her without noticing. By the time she caught up with him he was talking with the receptionist.

Itachi seemed somewhat relieved now that he was inside. Maybe prostitutes where his weak spot? Did he have some trauma or something?

The man gave Itachi a key with "104" imprinted on the turnkey. He took it without words and moved toward the stairs. Sakura decided to observe the place, taking notice that it was in a terrible state. But it was cheap and a roof over their heads so it suited them quite fine.

Sakura headed toward the way Itachi went, eyes scanning the area as she went. To their right was a dark hall that ended in a stairway. Next to it was a glass door that leaded to a little garden. She supposed that in its best years, the garden should have looked beautiful. But now it was covered with overgrowth, dried grass, a little pound that was full of garbage and pieces of broken furniture.

'Yuck'

They went up the stairways to the third floor. The walls had a moisten wallpaper, all dirty and rotten. It once had a tiny flowers pattern with a plaid green background, but now it was faded and all that was left were pieces of paper, hanging from the walls.

Not a pretty place indeed.

They finally, thankfully arrived to the "104" door. His dreams of not hearing those iron screeching doors again broke like glass, when he heard this wooden door make an even more annoying sound as he opened it. Somehow, the entire world had conspired against him on this day.

Sakura was surprised by the neatness of the room; she would have thought it would be a mess like the rest of the place. It contrasted dramatically with the rest if the inn. It was clean, tidy and nicely decorated. Very simple, but nice.

She couldn't be happier to stay here tonight. Sakura would have added some flower decorations, but it wasn't relevant.

Sakura was about to enter the bathroom, when she realized that she had been too slow, as she watched Itachi close the door. Sighing, she walked to the window as she took off her sandals and cloak. Sakura looked outside the window to see a bright village that refused to sleep.

The noise outside did creep into the room now and then but it was bearable. Much better than camping in the middle of the forest, with bugs and wild animals that may enter the tent. And she wouldn't have to share a bed with Itachi, which had been one of her worries since the start of this journey. She had a whole bed for herself.

The sound of a door opening made her turn around. She was greeted with the vision of Itachi dressed in black pants. And nothing else.

She tried not to seem too obvious, but it was so hard not to look at THAT body...

For a second she understood all those prostitutes that were fighting to get him as a client.

Her face went totally red so she hurried to the bathroom.

'I hope he hadn't noticed.'

She quickly closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down her teenage hormones.

'Calm yourself...you have to be calm and controlled...collected, cold...'

...Sasuke...

Damn! Why did she have to think about him?!

His half dead face came to her, and she could do nothing but feel hurt. She left him there.

Sasuke had been in front of her all this time and she hadn't seen him.

Sakura had been in that cave for almost four months and didn't notice he was there. And it never occurred to her that he could be there.

Again a mixture of emotions revolved her stomach.

Hate for herself for being so stupid not to realize before.

Guilt for not to save him.

Sadness for all the time without him.

Sakura felt shame for searching for him all this time while he was right under her nose. All this time, she was an idiot.

Hate for him, for being such a selfish bastard.

He really was a fool. But her heart twisted at the memory of his broken body. Those eyes . . .

"Screw you!" She blurted out, not able to contain so many emotions anymore. A river of tears made its way down her cheek.

She felt so stupid!

She had promised herself that she would never again put herself aside in favor of Sasuke, that she wouldn't be stepped on again. She was more important. But he was the reason she had accepted this mission in the first place, not that she openly admitted that though.

She had gone through all of this shit, through pain, cold, fear and tiredness for about two years and it was all because of him...and her foolishness.

STUPID!!

Her eyes, red from anger, moved to the mirror and stared at her reflection.

They saw black hair instead of pink.

Sakura felt all the weight of the cursed blood running into her veins.

'All because of you...'

She clenched the sink with her hands, supporting herself.

_'Someday you'll regret your foolish choices'_

_'What...what are you saying, Sasuke-kun?'_

_'You won't understand that now'_

_'Why are you always so mean?'_

_'I'm neither mean nor nice, I'm always the same, but you've created a wrong image of me. An image you wished me to be'_

Stupid for not listening to that...for believing in fairy tales.

Her breathing raced up.

Her heartbeat accelerated.

'Stupid Sakura!!'

Without thinking, her fist smashed against the mirror, breaking her image in thousands of little pieces that fell to the tile floor like a rain of glitter. Her knuckles' skin broke and hot, cursed blood ran down her arm.

Her body went limp and she fell backwards, sitting on the floor and leaning on the tile wall opposite to the mirror.

She sobbed.

She convulsed.

And cried.

Her shaking hands rose to grab her head which seemed like it was going to explode. Her face stained with the blood from her hands and her fingers entangled with her hair.

* * *

"Screw you!" Itachi heard. What was happening in that bathroom? 

He was comfortably resting on his bed that was next to the window, when this sudden scream broke his peaceful moment.

A few moments later, the sharp sound of glass shattering made his curiosity take the best of him. So he got up and calmly walked to the bathroom door.

When he opened it, he saw a pitiful Mia, thrown on the floor, and with her nerves absolutely collapsed. He just stood in the threshold, staring at her.

The pieces of broken mirror were all over the floor. She was leaning on the wall with her head bent down; leaving a curtain of midnight hair that hid her face from the world.

She was sobbing.

"We don't want to call attention, so please, don't do that again." He said void of any emotion.

"Shut up!" She screamed annoyed. He stepped toward her. Then he kneeled down to her level, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"You can't tell me what to do." His voice was a dangerous low tone.

"Just...go..." She whispered, not wanting to start a fight.

When she heard nothing more she looked up. She was alone again with the door half opened.

'Damn, good start with Itachi' Inner Sakura said ironically, berating herself for having such a stupid crisis the first day of their mission.

She needed to recompose herself. And fast.

Sakura stood up, carefully trying to avoid the glasses under her feet. Her body craved for a warm bath and she complied. She undressed herself and turned on the hot water. Soon the tub was full and she entered it. What was left was to empty her mind and relax. She threw her head backwards and closed her eyes. Her thought seemed to melt with the steam from the bath. But the memories, they never seem to leave her. So many memories...

The soothing bath gave way to clear thinking and Sakura found she was better prepared to reassess her situation. Lately she was discovering that she seemed to get angry easier. And that anger seemed to build itself up into a tight ball. The tiniest thing would set her off. Example would be what just happened. But thanks to that, she felt lighter. It was easier to breathe and think over things. Bit by bit her mind relaxed and her body filled with a peaceful sensation. There was nothing wrong with that right?

At least Sasuke was safe in Konoha now. She hoped.

The thought that he might not deserve it gained strength in her. Everybody had been so worried; shed so many tears because of him. And he, as the egocentric, selfish pig she knew him for, went to Itachi thinking that he might have a chance in fighting him. He made everybody believe that he had returned to be the old and good Sasuke. What a lie. Her anger slowly returned.

No. She can not get mad again. She needed to be clam and collect. Right now she needed to figure a way to warn Naruto after discussing their plan to capture him. Maybe send a messenger bird to Konoha reporting it? Yeah, that would work. But right now . . . warm bathwaters were so soothing...

* * *

One hour and a half later, Mia exited the bathroom. He was so thankful, because his bladder was of the size of his head. So, needless to say, he practically rushed to the bathroom. 

Mia just wandered around the room, looking from time to time outside. She looked to the mini bar in the corner and decided to serve herself a dry martini.

Itachi came out of the bathroom and gazed oddly at her when he saw her drinking.

He sat next to her on the little bar and poured himself a cup of sake. It had been a while since he drank his last cup, so now was fine.

After the drinks Itachi explained his plan and the process of gathering information on the location of the Kyuubi.

She agreed to almost everything he said and gave some good ideas. Even if her nerves were as unstable as his respect for life, she was smart.

"Up until now, we know that he is an ANBU." Itachi stated.

"Captain, he's an ANBU captain." Mia corrected.

"Yes, which means he will be away from the village often."

"Right, so we need to know his schedule. Find when he will be on a mission and where. It would be best to pick one where he is either alone or with a small group."

"How do you suppose we get his schedule? It wouldn't be wise to enter the village right now."

Konoha knew he would be searching for the kyuubi so they could easily recognize him.

"Why not to make clones? We can mask them..." Mia spoke again. At first he thought it was stupid, nonsense, like an idea taken from a child in his first year of academy. But then it just seemed obvious. They could make clones with just the twenty percent of their strength and make them go to the village. In the night they would steal the documents they needed, and if any problem occurred, they could simply disperse them. It didn't waste their energies and they wouldn't have to move and risk themselves.

'Don't prejudice' He reminded himself.

Sakura, on the other hand, was afraid that her idea had sounded too childish. Mostly because of his face. He surprised her when he agreed with a nod of his head and gave nothing but an 'Hn' in response.

"Be prepared by tomorrow. We will start the jutsu at seven o'clock." He commanded.

She felt the fulfilling sensation of usefulness. Before she had always been a burden, all the ideas she could give were most of the time rejected. She had always been left in the shadows. But the warm feeling in her belly told her that she was starting to enjoy this period of her life.

* * *

A/N: Wow! long chapter... 

I think it's better than the last one...Maybe you are thinking the same xD I added some drama and some hints that could tell you something about their relationship and how this is all going to end xD

Again, there is not much to say...just...enjoy it! xDD

Thanks a lot to my beta, this one was very long and I appreciate your great work , oh, and thanks for the critics too, I think it will help me a lot :)

Thanks for the reviews again, I love to read them!!! Keep reviewing!!!


	7. Flowing water

Fly away. . .smile with the wind, and when you stop, reach me please.

Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

* * *

Chapter seven 

'4:34 am' said the clock. In the distance, she could still hear some drunken's laughter and soft music. It was the city that loved the dances, the drinks and the multi-colored neon letters, like the one that was under their window. It gave the whole room a greenish brightness.

She slowly opened her eyes, cautiously keeping her breathing even. Her first object of view was, of course, Itachi. From her point of view, his back was the only distinguishable part of his body. Her eyes following the curvature of every muscle, outlined by the dim light of neon and moon.

His breathing seemed even. She was pretty sure that he slept like a baby.

Sakura got up as quietly as possible and left the room in tiptoes. She thought about that garden that was all messed up. It would be a perfect place to send the message. It was hidden enough and none would visit it, specially during night.

The night was pleasant, not cold like those that she suffered on that cave which the Akatsuki called their 'headquarters'. No, this was fresh but not cold, the sky was beautifully illuminated by thousands of stars and the moon . . .

'Stop it!, you have no time to think of such meaningless things, focus. . .focus', she berated herself, thinking that she was too soft.

Another thing to change.

Lately her list had become larger and larger. She started to wonder whether she was changing too fast or it was just that she had never realized before the amount of things that made her weak.

Now, what could she do to send the message. She hadn't any birds near to call for . . .Maybe a clone.

* * *

Mia entered the room still thinking that he was asleep. What was she hiding?. Itachi didn't worry for he would find out later. 

She went to her bed and faked slumber. He could tell she was faking because of his extremely high skills, but she sounded rather convincing to any untrained ear.

He turned around to look at her. He could only distinguish the paleness of her skin because her dark hair mixed within the darkness of the room and because his eyesight wasn't in perfect shape at all. She was facing the ceiling and his eyes followed by their own the movement of her chest provoked by her breathing. This certainly awoke some lust in him, but he, as always, suppressed it.

The girl was rapidly falling asleep, as he realized that her breathing seemed more natural. He decided to follow her example and started the difficult task of falling asleep. He always had a hard time when sleep time came. The bags under his eyes were a truthful proof of that. Of course he slept, but no so often as the rest of the people. Nightmares were one of the main reasons; they didn't let him rest his mind so he preferred to meditate. Dreams angered him to his last extents for it was the only thing he couldn't control. Not even with his Sharingan.

He closed his eyes and dispersed the Sharingan, immediately feeling the relaxing sensation of the tenseness fading away from his head. He focused on his breathing, trying to make it even, deep and slow, and bit by bit, his mind flew away to another world lighter and free from human kind.

About an hour later, Mia's stir woke him up. It irked him a little the fact that he had finally got to sleep, though it seemed like seconds, and was harshly awoke by this girl's noisy slumber. She was talking nonsense he didn't pay much attention to, when a particular word caught his hearing.

'Sasuke'. . .Strike!, she knew him. How and why was the mystery, but this whole situation was definitely not the way it seemed to be. She was hiding some things to him that may be of considerable importance.

Why did she acted as if she didn't know him? Why to hide it? He noticed her strange behavior when they dropped Sasuke in the border of the Fire country, but didn't scrutinize on that. He thought that it was very probable for her to know him, after all, they were about the same age and both from Konoha. Therefore, there was no reason to hide such a petty fact.

Itachi felt that he was being carried in a situation he had no control over, and that bothered him so much. He felt insecure of the terrain he was stepping on. That wasn't something he was used to.

He kept staring at her, and she kept turning and spinning under the covers, visibly uncomfortable. She was having a nightmare probably.

This changed many things. He couldn't trust her in battle if she was hiding things that might involve him, so he should find out first and then proceed with their task.

* * *

Sakura sat in the border of a building, looking at the city and far away, at the forest that surrounded it. She had had a nightmare with Sasuke and his bloody face. The thing that scared her the most wasn't the image of a dying Sasuke. 

It was the fact that she had killed him.

Mercilessly. Almost with a sadistic satisfaction. Seeing his red eyes fading to black, little by little loosing every breathe of life in them. Even now she couldn't help the sinful sensation of fulfillment.

She closed her eyes and the wind blew, tossing her hair backwards.

She felt him coming.

"Mia san, I would like to ask you a thing?", Itachi said calmly while standing next to her and looking at the same forest.

"What is it?", she said with worry. She was expecting this to happen.

"Why is it that you know my brother?", but, as she was expecting it, she had already prepared an answer.

"I met him in Konoha, during my years in the academy"

"I see. . ." He replied. Of course he thought about that, but he was sure that there was something else. This wasn't even the tip of the iceberg.

"Then why did you hide it?"

"You asked for one question only", she said playfully. But in her mind she was looking at light speed for excuses that would satisfy his curiosity.

On the other hand, Itachi was almost amused by her skills of evading problematic questions.

Almost.

Ok, less than almost.

"Is there any reason why you don't want to answer another question?", he said narrowing his eyes but keeping his stare on the forest.

"No, I just don't want to", Sakura replied, for the first time, feeling that it was ok to let inner Sakura to see the light.

Itachi moved to face her and approached her at a dangerously slow step. He stood at one foot from her and bent down to her level. His hand reaching for the side of her head to toss away a strand of hair from her face. Then he grabbed her chin and moved himself closer to her face, mere inches apart.

"I don't like your behavior, Kunoichi", he whispered in a low velvety tone.

"I don't like yours either', she said defiantly. What had happened to her? Where was all the fear that had normally taken over her body in a situation like this?

"Uh...we're on a big dilemma then, for my patience is not so . . .extensive", he said looking at her directly at the eyes with his hypnotizing Sharingan.

"Mine is already lost", she said, feeling the adrenaline fill her body. She was getting excited at the possibility of a fight.

What in the world was wrong with her?

Sakura could feel the tenseness of the situation, though it was charged with a hidden and dark meaning. It was so dense she could almost sense it, but she couldn't help the warmth it provoked on her lower belly.

She got scared at such feeling.

She got scared of her own thoughts.

Sakura grabbed his hand that was holding her chin and softly moved it away from her. His face didn't show a hint of anger, nor excitement or any emotion. Just then she released a breath that she had been holding without even realizing.

"I wouldn't like to be secrets that might interfere with our mission", he said serious while standing up. "So, if you have something to say, I recommend you to start right now", his voice became cold and indifferent again, which contrasted dramatically with the tone he had just used.

She narrowed her eyes.

"I don't have anything to say, Itachi san, so please don't be so paranoiac", she said lightly, like dismissing the matter.

Itachi remained silent. Of course that didn't convince him, not at all, but for now he would leave the topic. He would ponder over these things later. Now they had something very important to do.

"Let's start the jutsu, it's around seven", he said while seating cross-legged.

For Sakura, this was the first time she would actually use this technique. She had been taught to use this by Leader himself, but she never really had a chance to use it. So, needless to say, she was very nervous, always afraid that she could screw up some thing, or do it wrong and seem stupid in front of Itachi. She was kind of looking for his approval. He was one of the strongest persons she knew and was certain that being with him was a great chance to learn and become stronger and powerful. Plus, there was another thing that made her want to look perfect in front of him.

He had acknowledged her. And this was such a conflictive situation, because there were only two people in the world that had truly done that, he and Naruto, and Naruto was her best friend and maybe something else, but Itachi . . .he was nothing of her, no relationship, not a friend, none. But he had done what not even both of her beloved mentors had done in years.

But he was such an imbecile.

"Start with a twenty percent", he ordered and closed his eyes to concentrate. She did the same, albeit it was kind of difficult with so much adrenaline still running throughout her body. Then suddenly, two clones were formed.

First they changed their appearance. Mia was a little girl of black eyes and dark hair and Itachi a robust man with green eyes and brown hair. They looked like father and daughter, without a hint of their real selves.

Mia looked at the clones and smiled.

* * *

Big. Everything was so big! The gates had been remodeled and there were new buildings all over the place. The main street was bigger too and there were many people from Suna. 

Sakura couldn't hide her excitement. To comeback and see those big gates again, those she had left with a crying Naruto behind them. To see all the faces she lived with for about seventeen years. Everything . . .it was too much for Sakura. But this was Gennosuke Mia, so, instead of running through the whole village to say hi to her friends and loved ones, she stood poker-faced, walking calmly next to Itachi.

She was becoming so much like him.

"I'm thirsty and hungry", Mia suddenly broke the silence between them. Itachi just looked at her from the corner of his eye and signaled a little restaurant. They both walked there without uttering a word.

They sat in a table next to a window and waited to order.

"So, what should we do?", she asked. They were supposed to steal the documents around midnight, and it was hardly eight in the afternoon.

"We will have to search for a place to stay", he replied.

"To prepare everything, you say?" she said.

"Hm. And to pass inadvertent", Itachi finished.

The waitress arrived and they ordered.

During the meal none of them spoke, it went completely silent. Sakura, though, took advantage of the situation and observed him meticulously. She realized, for example, that he took his time to eat the food, he chewed quite slow, he was right handed, he didn't like capers . . .

Gosh, she felt pathetic.

Any excuse as not to think about how happy she felt for returning to Konoha.

She was thinking about it again, damn! stop it!

Let's see . . .

She glanced all over the restaurant and the people to distract her mind. Her eyes passed over a blur of green.

Lee. He passed by the restaurant she was in, walking happily next to Ten Ten.

So much time without seeing him!, that made her remember all the people she hadn't seen in about one year and a half.

That made her remember Sasuke.

Yeah, he was here, and there was a high probability that he wasn't alive.

They finished and left the place to find an inn. There was one near the center with a great view to the Hokage tower.

"I'm going away for a while, I'll be back in he night", said Mia. Itachi replied with a 'hn' and that was all he cared.

'Idiot' she said inwardly.

Mia hurried to the outside. There, she headed for the Hokage building, just to have a look; the Yamanaka flowery, Ichiraku ramen . . .The hospital.

She needed to know about Sasuke.

"Excuse me, I would like to know if there is any Uchiha Sasuke registered", she said to the receptionist of the Hospital.

"Ehm . . .yes, he's in the room 202", the woman answered with that permanent smile all receptionists had.

"Thanks", Sakura said and walked through the hallways that now belonged to a distant past.

There was, the 202 room. Behind it, she didn't know what to expect.

Her hands started to sweat, her breathing raced up, her throat felt tight.

'Open it'.

Her legs were shaking and a cold rush of adrenaline ran from her feet to her head.

'Open the damn door', inner Sakura screamed.

His bloody face and dying eyes returned to her from her dream, attempting to break her will again.

'Shut up, Sakura!'

She entered, first looking at the floor and slowly, very slowly, raising her gaze.

The bed, white covers, dark hair . . .

Sasuke . . .

Her eyes filled with warm tears and her hand quickly covered her mouth to prevent it from gasping.

He didn't look as bad as she saw him the day before. His eyes, closed to her, showed a big amount of veins, as the rest of his skin did. He was like a ghost with too many injuries.

Suddenly she realized that destiny had a very twisted sense of humor.

This was the same room she had been hospitalized years ago, when the transfusion had place.

The same room, the same starless night sky.

"Sasuke", she couldn't help the venom that accompanied her words.

* * *

"Itachi san?", Sakura asked. She had entered the room and it seemed empty. 

'Strange', they were supposed to prepare for the midnight attack, so he should be here.

'While he gets here before midnight, I'm alright', he didn't care if she went out, so why would she care about him? He should die if world wasn't so unfair.

Sakura entered the bathroom to drink some water. Her throat felt dry and her mind tired. She looked up to the mirror and laughed at the image she saw. The little girl in front stared back at her with such innocent eyes. Her smiling face remembered her of the twelve-year old Sakura who believed in fairy tales and a certain black haired Uchiha little boy.

A noise outside the bathroom woke her up. When she went out she found Itachi walking to the window.

"I observed the surroundings, and there is an easily avoidable guarding, here is the map", Itachi said and opened a scroll on top of the bed.

Sakura knew very well the Hokage building, at least that's what she thought until she saw the map. They had changed so many things. There were new rooms and some others were missing. Some had changed their purpose.

"We will enter here", he signaled a little entrance that was placed in the back of the building.

"The vigilance is very poor, so we won't call attention. Next, we go through this hallway to this stairs. Here is the room we are looking for", He said with a plain voice and looked up at her. She held a confused expression on her face. More like disturbed.

"Is anything wrong, Mia san?"

"No, nothing, is just that it seems so easy", another lie. She was getting used to lies, it was easier and easier to her as time passed by.

"It is, but you don't have to be overconfident", he stated. Experience had taught him that he always had to expect the worst of every situation, no mater how easy it seemed to be.

They prepared for the attack. The clothes, weapons and others, it was all ready.

They seemed invisible in this dark night. Their ran to the Hokage building. There were four guards on the main door. Two more on the back door.

Itachi walked to them and with the silent action of his sharingan the two men fell asleep.

They entered. The map replayed over and over again in their heads. The stairway and to the right the room they were looking for.

Itachi made her a gesture that indicated her to search on one side. He would search on some shelves.

Mia passed through a lot of names that meant so much to Sakura as if they were nothing, as if they were strangers. She was like a machine now. Cold and practical.

She activated the Sharingan to do the task easier and faster, cautiously facing Itachi with her back for him not to notice.

Soon she found the name she was looking for.

Uzumaki Naruto, Captain of the third special ANBU squad.

Quickly she read the document and felt totally relieved when she saw that he was on a mission.

She looked at Itachi and made a signal. They ran to the outside.

Of course this couldn't be so easy.

Five ANBU stood there, waiting for them, with a series of traps all over the place. But she didn't worry at all. She had asked them to be there in the first place.

'Thanks, Tsunade shishou'

A kunai flew millimeters from her cheek and she realized they were fighting her seriously. Itachi directed a quick look at her, like reproving her, and that was enough to make her inner self to burn in anger.

She threw three kunai while making a clone at light speed.

"Gougakyou no justu!" and all became the hell itself. She ran with three more clones throwing shurikens and kunai. The next Housenka no jutsu threw one ANBU unconscious to the ground. She quickly jumped backwards to fall right behind another ANBU. Without a blink she cut his throat with a kunai and stood there while the body fell to the ground, to her feet.

Itachi had already beaten two more and they escaped, leaving behind one ANBU half-alive.

* * *

Tsunade watched the two fugitives run away, seated in her office with a hot coffee on her hand. She had been enclosed there the whole day, and still, it wasn't enough to calm her sorrow. 

She had been thinking about Sakura. It hurt to realize that the mission originally given to the pink haired Kunoichi had given a complete turn, and now she was being exposed at so many things Tsunade doubted she was prepared for. The way she had fought, the easiness which she killed those two ANBU, without hesitating . . .One year and a half on this mission was turning her into an authentic Akatsuki, and that was what the Fifth feared the most. Before, she had been completely sure about Sakura's position. She trusted her to remain the same Sakura everybody knew. But now, she had became a stranger, whose ambitions, powers and feelings were unknown for the Hokage.

How long would this act last, before it becomes real?

She felt so guilty. The ghosts of her past returning to whisper in her ear how she, again, had failed to a loved person. She regretted so much to give this assignment to Sakura.

She hadn't expected this to happen.

* * *

A/N: So much time without updating!! sorry guys for the long wait, it's just that I had a few problems and also resumed (finally!) my final exams, which is a big relief. Now I'll have a lot of time to write and do all the things we do in summer xD 

Basically, I wanted the story to advance a little bit faster, I don't know if I accomplished it, you tell me :P and also I wanted to start with a little sparkle between those two. From here on, there will be a lot itasaku 'moments' jejeje. As to how long will this story be. . .well, I'm not quite sure, really, this could end in two more chapters as it could do it in ten, I don't know, but as I see it, there's ab type for a long time xDD

Nothing else to say but to thank all of you who are supporting me. Thanks for your reviews!!!!

Keep reviewing!!

PS: I'd really appreciate if you could say why you liked this story and if there is something you would change or something you didn't like, pleaseeee.


	8. Mind changes

Night is upon us and in the distance I see the intensity of your dark eyes. I wonder, when did I lose my path?

* * *

Chapter 8

The night was pleasant once again. The air was hitting on her face as she ran through the forest, next to the world known Uchiha traitor.

"They had stopped tracking us", Itachi stated.

"We should stop too", she said. She was getting very tired and all the pressure of the day was turning against her.

Itachi slowed his pace to finally stop next to a tree. Sakura was so glad. She laid against it and fell sit, with her eyes closed and her head facing upwards.

Itachi stood in front of her, just looking. Then he sat by her side, supporting his weight on the same tree.

"Why did you hesitate back then?", he asked plainly.

"What are you talking about?", she responded confused.

"When we got out of the tower. You didn't attack immediately"

"Oh, that. I was just. . .confused.", she said more like to herself. "I got surprised, that's all"

He thought about replying, but then again, he had never seen her in real battle before this one. They had only sparred.

"Mia san, I would like to spar" he suddenly said.

She turned around to look at his figure.

"What?! Why now all of a sudden? I mean, we have just had a battle and you want to spar?", Sakura couldn't be more startled. What in the world had this guy in his head?

"It will take only a few moments."

She opened her mouth to protest, but she fell silent.

An idea was forming on her head.

"Ok. . .you win", she sighed while standing up.

They both stood face to face, about two meters away from each other. The thick forest let only a few rays of moonlight to touch the floor, so they were almost in complete darkness.

This could be the perfect chance to correct her previous mistake against those ANBU.

"Come", he said with a deep voice and in a matter of seconds he had Mia in front of him, trying to hit him. He easily avoided it. She threw a kick to his side but was met with a clone. Just in time she bent down, as a kunai passed flying above her head. Some strands of hair fell to the floor.

Mia ran as fast as she could and jumped backwards to fall just behind Itachi. She withdrew a kunai and pressed it on his back.

"I win", she whispered smiling.

"Not yet", and he turned around so fast that she couldn't even see his face. In a fraction of a second the situation was completely opposite. He was holding her hand with the kunai behind her back. She couldn't see him for he was behind her.

'Dammit'

"What would you do if I buried this kunai in this instant?", he whispered on her ear.

She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the shivers that ran throughout her body.

"I would try to escape and talk less", she said, and in a demonstration of her inhuman physical strength she released herself from his grasp, grabbing both of his hands.

She was getting excited.

A dark smirk was placed on her features. He narrowed his eyes.

They moved away and this time, it was the elder Uchiha who made the first movement.

He punched her on the face, then on the stomach and she fell forward on her knees.

'Bastard!' she thought.

She lifted her leg in the air and tried to kick him. By the time her foot touched the floor he had already disappeared. Her kick left a big hole on the ground.

A shadow passed behind her and she was able to catch it with one fist. It ended up being Itachi's rib, which received one strong punch of the Kunoichi. He grabbed her hand and threw her in the air to smash her tiny body against one big tree. She rebounded with her feet and with the momentum she approached at Itachi at maximum speed. The kick that she was preparing for him only made contact with the dirt floor for he moved faster than her.

She was becoming impatient. She felt satisfied when she was able to hit him, but it wasn't enough.

She landed harshly with her knee, smashing the skin there. Mia remained inclined on the floor, with her head down, letting a curtain of black hair to hide her face. Her breathing was racing, and so was her blood.

In a flash she lifted her head and instead of green emerald eyes, a blood red pair shimmered on the moonlight, burning with the ferocity of an animal, ready for the kill.

Itachi couldn't be more surprised. His eyes opened wide and for a moment he stood quiet, too astonished to react before the angered Mia that now was coming again at him. When she was inches apart she vanished and he couldn't know where she was. She appeared from behind, making him fall and positioning over him, with one leg at each side of him.

"See? I win", she said proud. Her intimidating red eyes were looking at their match under her, at the Uchiha prodigy.

"Sharingan?", Itachi was able to say.

"What?", what was he talking about? She got up and suddenly a terrible dizziness threw her against a tree. She grabbed her head in a futile attempt to focus her mind.

Itachi stood up and looked at her with narrowed eyes.

In a second she fell unconscious.

'What are you hiding of me, Kunoichi?'

* * *

Before he could remember anything, the first image that appeared on his eyes were green beautiful eyes turning to red.

Then, he woke up.

He was on the hospital, once again. But why? he still couldn't remember some things, specially those that happened recently. All he had in his mind was hate for this man that once was his brother.

And those green eyes.

'Sasuke' a cold feminine voice said.

'I'm reaching heights you already know. I'm becoming powerful as you thought I could never be. Now I'm here, standing in front of you, while you lay unconscious on that bed that I once occupied. I searched for you, I trusted you.

I loved you.

And I don't like this, this feeling that's always present on my thoughts.

Is it hate?

Do you remember when you said that we must walk different paths?, well, I think you were mistaken'

The remember of those word hit him hard.

Although he listened to it, he couldn't see. But that voice seemed so familiar.

A sudden headache forced him to stop thinking.

He would do it later, when his head was clearer.

His long black strands were spread on the pillow, covering it almost completely. His lifeless eyes, searching for answers he wasn't quite sure he would like to find.

* * *

She woke to soft blankets and a warm mattress. But her head was still dizzy.

When she opened her eyes she realized of how much did it hurt. They were like in fire and in a fraction of a second, they were full of tears.

"Who are you?", a deep voice broke her precious silence. She remembered the source of her eyes in pain and then his words made sense.

'Shit'

"What's with that question? you already know", she tried. She would never tell him the truth. Even if he could kill her with a blink of his eyes.

"You know what I'm talking about. The Sharingan.", he insisted. Man, he was tough.

Strange thing, but she never prepared an answer for such an obvious question. It was a constant risk anyway, and she couldn't forgive herself for such a careless behavior. This could mean the end of her life.

'Think Mia, think'

"It's my secret weapon, why would I have to tell you?", lame, but she would find a way to escape this.

"Because is a blood limit concerning my clan", she could see he was a little, just a little irritated.

And that wasn't good.

"It's a long story I don't want to tell", she spoke. Hopefully he would leave the conversation there and would release her from this interrogation.

"Don't play with me Kunoichi", he refused to let her go.

'Screw you Uchiha shit'

"Oh, can't you see I feel horrible?, dammit. Sometime ago I just developed this thing and I found out I had some relatives that belonged to the Uchiha clan." Good, the little talk gave her time to think for excuses.

"Now stop asking, I won't tell you more."

"I see", he said with mistrust.

"Where were you the day I killed the clan?", he kept asking.

"Man! don't you know where to stop?. I was in the village like everyone else, and I told you, I didn't even know I had Uchiha blood until I developed the Sharingan. My parents died when I hadn't even learned to talk. I never meet them, I raised alone.

His eyes were wide open and attentive. He was cautiously thinking over every word she said.

He couldn't escape him.

This was very interesting indeed. It changed absolutely everything. If she was an Uchiha as she said, then destiny surely was a weird thing. In any case, If she had Sharingan there was a chance for her to develop Mangekyou. In a way it could be dangerous, but she hadn't the strength as to be a threaten for him. Now it could happen that she had acquired this doujustsu with something similar to Kakashi's case. She could have do it. Seemingly she was a medic. He had seen the way she would heal her injuries every time they sparred. But she couldn't have made it alone. It was very unlikely.

He would have to keep her under constant vigilance. He needed to know who she was.

"Well, Mia san, you have made of this conversation something very interesting", he finished with a smirk and that deep and undeniably sensual tone of voice.

Sakura melted at the sound of his voice. But kept the poise.

Itachi finally left and she was alone again.

'I hope he had believed me', she thought worried.

With all this questioning she had forgot to ask him where were they. This was a room with a big window behind her. It was like an abandoned house. Outside she could see a thick forest hiding them.

'Did he carry me here?' well, they had lost some time in all these series of confusing events. She was better now so they would have to start moving. He had the stolen scroll and they should hurry.

"Itachi san!", she called. Sakura walked to the door and opened it. She entered a big room with a little kitchen on one side. But Itachi wasn't there.

She went outside, to the forest. By the color of the sky she could tell it was very early in the morning. A freezing breeze ran through the trees and she was getting cold.

Behind a tree was the figure of the dark Uchiha. He was meditating.

"Itachi san, we should start moving", she said while walking next to him. She looked down at his closed eyes.

He slowly got up and opened them, watching the petite body of the mysterious Kunoichi. He smirked to himself.

"I'll go to get the bags", she started walking and stopped in her track when a warm hand was suddenly around her wrist, grabbing her firmly.

Sakura looked around, confused when she met those red eyes, filled with something that made her gut warm too.

Itachi slowly gave a few steps to her, until he was mere inches apart from her. He lowered his gaze to look at her eyes.

Sakura was a mess of feelings and sensations in that moment. She couldn't understand his actions, nor the way he was making her feel, but his closeness, his manly scent and the intensity of his stare was enough to drive any woman insane.

His lips were so close to her that she could almost feel them on hers.

"You are something very interesting, Kunoichi. . .", he whispered in that low voice. She was shivering for what she wanted to believe was fear.

Fear of her own hormones.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations that fill her body.

Now his face was moving to her side, where her ear was. Itachi smelled softly her scent in that very spot were her neck meets her ear.

He enjoyed himself too. It was very pleasant for him this whole situation. Now he couldn't take off his attention from her.

". . .you have totally proven me wrong", he whispered in a hushed tone on her neck. He smirked when he felt her sigh his name for what could be nothing but pleasure.

". . .Itachi. . .san, we should really. . .really leave", she whispered completely dazed, not sure of what she was saying or doing. She moved away from him, immediately missing the warmth of his body and his addicting masculine scent. He just let her go.

Sakura stepped backwards, not being able to broke eye contact. His eyes were looking darkly at her, slightly narrowed, with a sensual smirk adorning his lips.

It was pure lust what he emanated.

Lust for her.

That thought made her feel so good. She hurried to the house, finally loosing his gaze.

Once she was inside, she almost cried. She didn't know why, but it was due to a strong feeling inside of her. She felt her entire body warm and asking for touches only he could provide.

'What happened to me?', where was her proud? How could she fall so easily for the Uchiha idiot? Once again for an Uchiha?

Hell no.

She wouldn't let this happen again, even if he acted with that damn sensuality, she would be strong and punch him on the face if necessary.

Yeah.

She strangely felt sexy. She felt like a woman with desires, who provoked desires in other people too.

Even if she was only eighteen.

Dammit, why couldn't she simply. . .die?

She couldn't be feeling anything for Itachi but hate.

Wait.

Why is that?

She had always thought that only hate was meant for Itachi, but never really questioned it.

Yeah, of course, because of Sasuke. But what was Sasuke to her now?

A selfish idiot that still occupied great part of her thoughts.

So what if she felt something for his older brother?

Even if her reasoning was absolutely true into her head, she couldn't get the feeling that it was right.

It wasn't right to like or lust Itachi for reasons she didn't know.

'Ahh! stupid Sakura!, don't get attached to past, he is your past now', she said inwardly. She needed desperately to cut that noose that bonded her to Sasuke and his traumas.

In any case, even if Mia took possession of her as she did often, she wouldn't let this happen so easily.

She would never again be humiliated.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Itachi was still hot, so he tried to use the outside freezing breeze as an aid.

He had finally fallen. He had been trying to suppress his desire for a long time. When Mia appeared, his hormones suddenly woke up and annoyed him every day. But now, with the known that she might possess Uchiha blood, his plans had given a complete turn.

Even if he thought it wasn't good for his mental training to let one woman enter his life, it was just desire. Lust for the body, and that wasn't an inconvenience at all.

Uchiha Itachi never lost control, and less for something as superficial as a woman, so he allowed himself a short release.

Eventually, things would set up by themselves and then he would take advantage of the situation to release his own hormones.

Now he should find out more about this unknown Kunoichi, with blood eyes.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, I'm just too lazy to write more. Well, here we find some good itasakura moments. I hope you guys liked them, though I'm not yet sure about them.

Uhmm, that xD thanks again for your reviews, as always :D. I'm very happy to read them.

Keep reviewing please. If you read this story, then leave a comment!! even if you hated it, leave one!! xD

PS: if you are interested, visit my site, the link is in my profile, there are a few stories and some draws. That. xD


	9. Trapped

* * *

Chapter nine: Trapped 

"Today we will train"

That was the irrefutable statement of the Uchiha genius, that's how he started today, very early in the morning.

Sakura couldn't believe it. He had woke her up at five in the morning, just to train?

Dammit, she was angry.

If there was one thing that really pissed her off, it was to be awake

And this ogre did exactly that.

"You awoke very forcible today, Itachi san", she said while collecting her weapons to clean them.

And above all, clean?? What kind of training is that?

'I'll kill you, I'll kill you...' she repeated in her head, while looking with her death glare at how the subject of all her hatred sat just three meters from her, peacefully mediating.

He appeared to be concentrating, but she was sure he was alert, even to the flight of one bee.

She leaned on some bamboo and closed her eyes. She really needed to sleep.

'Continue your task, for your own good', she said to herself.

That's how the minutes passed and became hours, and there she was, still cleaning and sharpening their weapons. By the time she had finished, the sun was high above their heads, fortunately the high trees around them, offered a good protection against the sunlight.

She exhaled. She was tired of doing nothing, so she stretched out and then stood up.

"I'm going to the river", she said. He said nothing in return, so she just assumed he hadn't heard her. Even through it was very unlikely.

After taking a few steps, she soon got lost amidst the tall sticks of bamboo. The green scenery was somewhat relaxing, and only now, that she was alone and out of sight of the terrible Uchiha, she could feel it completely.

She inhaled the scent of the forest, and at the distance she could hear the river that she was walking to.

It was hardly noon and she was already feeling pretty tired. But maybe a day in this forest wasn't a bad idea after all. She was enjoying it now.

The thin river formed a little hidden pond. She noticed how clean the water seemed and drank a little. It was refreshing. She wanted to bath in there. No one would see her, right?

She took the chance and undressed herself. Even if the weather was hot as ever, the water was actually cold. She felt the sudden reaction of her body with the drastic change of temperature.

"Ahh! So nice!" she exclaimed.

Sakura let her mind travel around freely, forgetting about the lack of food, the weather, Konoha and Sasuke.

And that she needed to dye her hair because her true color was starting to show. Of course it was easier to use genjutsu, but that was futile against Itachi.

There was a village not too far away from here. Maybe she could do it there.

The cold water was soothing her ankle a little. She had tripped a few days ago, when they were running from the group of Hunter-nin that wanted to catch them.

On that day, the clones successfully delivered the scroll and they were able to move off of the city.

At the exit the hunters were waiting for them. An ambush.

From that point on, about a week had passed. Itachi was delaying their chasing of the kyuubi...

Kyuubi? come on Sakura! He is Naruto.

Yeah, of the chasing of Naruto, and he still hadn't given her a convincing reason for that. Maybe it was because he suspected something.

He was pretty keen; sometimes it was difficult for her to escape his questioning. But it wasn't the interrogation or his questions the thing that scared her.

He could read her every action with ease. There was no way for her to know what he was thinking, and now that he was suspicious, she had to act with double caution.

Think thrice before saying something or even taking a step.

Sakura got out of the pond and dressed herself. Then, she started her journey back to the camp.

When she arrived, she was surprised by Itachi, who was standing straight, staring at her, much like a wife waiting for her husband who arrived late in the night at home.

The situation seemed quite funny in her head, so she just smiled.

"Mia-san, I want to ask you something", Itachi started. His blank stare was there as always, but she was getting used to it. She almost didn't mind.

If it wasn't for the almost...

"Sure, what is it?" she said all too casual. She walked up to him and sat relaxed next to a thick stick of green bamboo. While he remained standing.

"How much control do you have over your sharingan?"

Interesting...

"Why would I tell you? Who knows what you could do with that information?", she tried. He definitely had something up his sleeve.

"I could help you with that." he simply said.

Come on, you can give better excuses!

"I have poor control of it if you must to know. I have a few genjutsu but only one is really powerful", she decided to please his curiosity and see how far she could play this game.

"The one you used to kill Orochimaru", he stated.

"Yes"

"Close your eyes", he commanded. She looked at him with a confused expression, but she just complied.

'I can't believe I'm trusting you this much already', she said inwardly, impressed at her obedience.

"Think of something you hate"

'Oh, that's easy...Sasuke'

She replayed the scene of his departure, the day she confessed. Then, when he almost killed her. When he left again. All the pain she suffered because of him.

But strangely, she couldn't feel hate for Sasuke as she wished to. She felt something that was way more painful.

She felt hate for herself.

Of course, Sharingan appeared immediately.

"Do you feel the strain in your head?"

"Yes"

"Focus it on your eyes"

She did as he said, and suddenly felt as if her eyes were on fire.

"Hold the chakra there"

'Dammit, this hurts!' inner Sakura screamed. She started to cry and that served a little to ease her pain.

"Now, visualize your chakra channels. Try to control the flow of Chakra in them."

"It hurts!" she groaned.

She had to do it. Uchiha Itachi himself was teaching her how to use her Sharingan, something he was the master of. She couldn't lose this chance. She needed to do it perfectly.

'But I don't have Uchiha eyes...' Sakura remembered. How was she supposed to use this doujutsu if she only had the half of what was needed?

'Relax, Sakura...you can do it. This is your chance.'

Slowly, the tension started to disappear, her channels were getting used to this big amount of chakra flowing to her eyes.

_'It seems like Sakura is the best in Chakra control here, at this point she has more chances to become Hokage', Kakashi said looking at Naruto._

_'And the Uchiha clan doesn't seem so great nowadays', he continued teasing the two boys._

_'Stop it already, Kakashi sensei!' she screamed._

Yes, of course she could do it.

Suddenly she opened her eyes and a bright red Sharingan shone in all its splendor.

She smiled when she realized she had controlled it. She felt so proud.

"Good, now, you will be like this until the sun goes down", he finished, feeling satisfied. She had learned it quite fast. She had great control over her stamina and chakra, which was useful from every point he could see.

"What?!" she didn't know if she could handle this stress for so long. She could faint, or end up blind, or just loose her ability with doujutsu. It was dangerous. But she needed to take the risk.

After all, she wasn't the thirteen-year-old Sakura anymore.

She was Gennosuke Mia. She could do it perfectly.

Mia sat down, directing all her concentration to her eyes. If she was going to be stuck like this the whole day, then the best option was to meditate.

'Concentrate, relax your eyes, breath in, breath out...'

* * *

"Kakashi", the deep voice of the young Uchiha sounded in the night, calling the attention of his former sensei. 

"Ah! Sasuke, how have you been?" Kakashi responded lightly. He wasn't in the mood to argue.

"I need to ask you something"

"Go on"

"What happened to Sakura? where is she?"

Kakashi's mood suddenly dropped until it touched the ground. A terrible sorrow fell on his shoulders and made him want to punch the kid that stood before him to death.

"She left on a mission", he said, trying to conceal his pain.

"How long?" Sasuke kept pushing the matter.

"I don't know, I quit counting the months a long time ago", he replied. His gaze lost in the ground.

"What was her mission about?"

"She didn't tell anybody"

Both men fell silent. There were many things they didn't know, and that left them both a bitter flavor.

"Ok" Sasuke said and left to ponder certain facts.

For a reason, he couldn't take off of his mind those green eyes turning to red. He usually calmed his conscience telling himself that it had been only a bad dream. But it kept bothering him; it haunted him every day, in every moment. Even if his life had turned to be a continuous torture, even if his desire of revenge had grown twice and more, those eyes were the only thing he could think about.

He didn't want to think it was her.

And what he could have caused to her with his blood.

* * *

Fist up, and then down to his stomach, at the same time a kick was being thrown to his side. 

A clone.

Behind? no, down on the earth.

A jutsu?

She is getting quite fast.

"Don't move", her voice was heard from behind him. The very tip of her kunai ready to pierce his flesh as if it was butter.

'I'm not that easy', he smirked.

Now he was behind her and her kunai buried in a cloud of smoke left by his clone.

She moved fast to catch his fist and finally win this spar, but the kunai Itachi was holding didn't move, and it pierced on her back.

He saw her blood running bit by bit as she turned around and punched him hard on the cheek. He stepped backwards because of the strength she put on that blow. That gave her time to put in practice what he had been teaching her.

She met his gaze. sharingan against sharingan. She tried to use a genjutsu, but was easily countered by Itachi's.

She ran to him and then divided herself in three shadow clones, all of them throwing kunai's at the Uchiha genius. Sakura used a fire jutsu to distract him from the real her. Then an earth element jutsu to make a cell around them with the trees.

She disappeared and the real Mia was left outside the wooden cell.

Itachi wasn't there either, but got trapped in the mud she created. When he released himself from it, he was met with the intensity of Mia's sharingan.

In a second he forgot everything;

his name,

his body,

his power.

But he wasn't stupid at all. He completely turned it the other way around and this time was Mia the one trapped in his Genjutsu.

"You have improved", his voice echoed in the world she was trapped in.

"Of course, now release me, you won", she said a little bit annoyed. She wasn't a person who liked losing.

Itachi's figure materialized next to her.

"What makes you think I'm going to do so?", he whispered. She turned her head to the side to look at Itachi, but he had already disappeared and now was behind her.

She felt him grab her arms and secure them behind her back. His body pressing against her. She could feel his chest hard on her back.

"Let me go now, Uchiha", she said dangerously, but not moving.

His head came closer to her ear. He grabbed her arms with one hand. The other, now free, wandered on her waist, delicately tracing an invisible line from her hip up to her ribs.

She moved her head opposite to his, trying to avoid his breath on her neck and the sensation he has provoking in her.

He completely opened his hand and encircled part of her waist, pushing her closer to him.

"You are an Uchiha too. I think I missed someone that night", he whispered in hushed tones next to her ear, inhaling her scent that was a mixture of adrenaline, fear and something else he was getting addicted to.

She felt fear at the meaning of those words. Would he kill her? But she wasn't an Uchiha...

...well, in a way she was. She had their blood.

Sakura was scared, and for the first time, Mia was too.

"You have me...like this...", he murmured, almost inaudible. He spoke so close to her ear that his lower lip brushed past her lobe.

She shivered, delighted by these sensations that were taking over her body.

She moaned slightly and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was in the bamboo forest, leaning against a bamboo stick, but the worst thing was,

she was alone.

She looked everywhere around her, but found no Itachi.

What was that?, he trapped her in his world with the Sharingan, she was sure of that.

But his touches...and the way his words came out; slowly and sensually...

"Prepare the fire, I'll go catch some fish.", his voice resounded amidst the forest and came to her like a bad dream.

"...yeah...", she said, too dazed to complain.

'Damn you, Uchihas...'

* * *

A/N: Hello everybody!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy for your reviews TTTT, I love them!!! thank you all 

This chapter took me a long time, just because I was lacking inspiration xD, really, I had...kind of a writer's block...:P, but aside from that, I think this came out pretty well.

And short xD

This was made with the help of my new beta, SharinganAngel u, thanks a lot!!!!!!

Well, as I always tell you, pleeeeeaaaase review!!! review, review!!!


	10. Lust is a sin

Chapter ten

It disgusted her.

Their blood-thirsty maniatism, or the way their eyes shone with each drop of blood that came from the other, without discriminating woman or man, shinobi or civilian, adult or child.

She hated the way she felt with that cloak on, the scent of dry blood on her hands.

She needed to end this mission as soon as possible.

But still, there wasn't enough information to return to Konoha as of yet. She couldn't arrive there empty handed, after all, her mission had been long enough, even more than necessary, and she couldn't stop the feeling that somewhat, it had been her own choice to stay there just that little bit longer.

In a way, she had been turning into one of those blood-thirsty bastards.

"Itachi-San" She said absent-mindedly, it was like she was forcing herself to return to this world.

The older Uchiha was eating and seated opposite her, so he raised his head a little, just to look at her troubled face, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm curious about something", she said, staring at the food that she forgot she was eating. Inner Sakura wasn't so sure about asking him this, but it was extremely necessary for her mission to come to a close.

"I've been asking myself this for some time now." she continued, a little bit unsure "Ever since I joined this organization, I've been seeking power and improvement. I've been doing this for myself.

But, just like everyone else in the Akatsuki, I'm here to accomplish a common ambition, and I feel uncomfortable with the realization that...I don't know what this goal is about. Leader won't tell me this, but I need to know what I'm fighting for."

Itachi gazed back to his plate as a small smirk appeared behind the big collar of his cloak. He remained silent; the tension began to build.

"To unify this world", he answered mysteriously.

"Unify?" she asked even more confused, her eyes fixed on the elder Uchiha.

His smirk grew, she couldn't see it, but she knew it was there.

"You will understand in time"

Again, she felt the emptiness of his words and made a big effort to suppress the anger that boiled within her.

"I **need** to know now", she repeated coldly.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

Her mouth gaped a little. How was she meant to answer that? It's not like she was just going to come out and say it. She began to speak, but her words just got caught in her throat, making her splutter out an array of incoherent sounds.

"You just wait", he replied simply, hinting that the topic was over.

Itachi stood up and left to go and rest, leaving a very annoyed Mia sitting at the kitchen table.

Dammit, she just couldn't stand his attitude, the way his words left her with more questions than answers.

Well, it was always like that with him, she couldn't change his personality. But, at the moment, there was something that she needed to change, a much more important matter, she needed that information now.

The only thing she had was an idea of their plan, but even that was a near complete blur.

Maybe straightforward questions weren't the solution...

The chicken and rice on her plate was cold but her stomach urged her to eat, so she complied and began to eat the rubbery substance that you couldn't possibly call food.

The weather was changing so fast that sometimes she had to stop herself and realize it wasn't summer anymore, that it was already autumn. The trees displayed a beautiful variety of oranges, yellows and reds while the wind made a storm of leaves, bringing in the freezing air of the upcoming winter.

Sakura found herself liking this season. Before she thought it was depressing, after all, it looked like death, but now, she found it to be relaxing and nice.

The sky was gray: like a stone, like a cement wall, like the hair of her former sensei...

...Like the day this whole story began, at the hospital of Konoha.

Yes, definitely, this mission had to stop.

Without reason, she had been staying here for so much time. The cause was obvious to her.

Uchiha Itachi.

Unfortunately, she wasn't twelve anymore, so she didn't have anything to blame it on, it was the cold, hard truth. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, it was true.

She liked him.

Even at the mere thought of it, her cheeks started to flush.

But she wasn't here to make romances, even if her inner Sakura was slapping her for not taking advantage of the situation, but Sakura had already noticed that Itachi had some strange kind of interest in her.

Of course it was because of the Sharingan, it's not like the Uchiha prodigy had something else in mind.

The bloodline limit, that was another thing she had to be careful of. If she made even the tiniest mistake concerning the famous doujutsu, Itachi would see through her fake.

She couldn't lie the Master about his mastered technique.

The glass window next to her was collecting frost more and more and now she could barely see outside. Her reflection was showing and she could see her silky black hair. She thought it suited her.

Sakura really missed Konoha. She thought it would be easier if she went outside, but each passing day she found it more and more difficult. At least she wasn't alone now, but being with Itachi would never compare to what it felt to be with Naruto, Kakashi or Tsunade. They were her family.

Being with Itachi felt like...a cold emptiness; it kind of reminded her of the times she was alone with Sasuke. It was the same chill on the back of her neck; that made her hair rise.

Like now, as she sat there, in a cold chair, looking at the window on a very cold day.

She was alone.

At this moment in time, she even wished for Itachi to be seated there with her.

* * *

Many times Sasuke had thought about killing himself. In those anguishing moments, suicide seemed like the best solution.

But then he thought it would be too easy for his brother. He couldn't give him such pleasure. It was humiliating just thinking about it.

Now he was feeling quite depressed. His latest try with Itachi had gone awfully wrong, and took away all his pride and will. It was terrible.

Sasuke felt his world crumble when he saw himself, thrown in the dirt, without chakra nor stamina and the figure of a clean and unscratched Itachi looking down at him, with a blank stare and the redness of Sharingan eyes.

He couldn't even punch him, just like the last time, just like that fateful night.

He felt useless.

Then, what came next was nothing compared to the big amount of damage his ego suffered.

He felt pathetic.

It was after he returned to Konoha, when he woke up in that hospital room with white walls, that he had that idea. But he felt even more pathetic when thinking about suicide.

His life had too much value to just throw it away like that.

Now, more then ever,

He wanted his bloody revenge.

Those were the thoughts of Uchiha Sasuke as he trained on the outskirts of Konoha.

For a moment, he stopped to lay down on the grass. His gaze focused on the night sky, which was deprived of any stars. It was a terribly dark night with an eerie silence that made him think about certain things he was trying to avoid.

Like the eyes he saw in dreams.

He knew whom they were, he just...didn't want to believe it.

A long sigh escaped him; he was tired. A whole week of non-stop training was showing, through the form of his eyes and body. His sleep hours had been very reduced, even more than usual. He needed to rest.

Sasuke stood up and left for home.

Next time he would die, but he would take Uchiha Itachi with him,

That was for sure.

* * *

They were on the move again. Last week they met with Hoshigaki Kisame. He had talked some things over with Itachi before separating.

She was walking ahead, while Itachi followed.

Through the thickness of the foliage she saw gray cloud about to release the rain. The forest offered a good shelter, but they would be getting wet anyway.

She felt sad leaving that comfortable inn. In the last few weeks, they had moved from inns to forest to camps. Tonight they were supposed to stay in another camp and in the morning they would reach their final destination; a small training camp where Naruto was supposed to be along with his squad.

It was hidden in the forest where only people of ANBU rank or higher knew its location. Itachi had been the ANBU captain, so he knew this camp and the area surrounding very well, at least, that was what she assumed; he wouldn't say a word about it.

Sakura felt the intense stare of Itachi on her back and it annoyed her to no end, so she slowed down her pace to match his.

Suddenly, she felt a tiny drop fall on her nose so she looked up. Rain started to fall smoothly thanks to the high trees. For some a reason she felt very happy with this situation. In her eyes, it seemed just beautiful. She let a little smirk appear on her lips as she closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation of the soft rain on her face. Her body was warm because of the cloak; it was very comfortable.

Itachi, on her side, looked at her actions and then up to the sky. He stopped by a thick tree and leant on it.

Sakura stopped too and looked at him with doubt in her eyes. She waited for him to talk.

"The training field is hidden to those who only possess amateur eyes. Only highly ranked shinobi can find it. You know why that is?"

"No, I've never even heard of this place", she answered truthfully.

"There are traps set all around in a radius of one kilometer. The camp itself is hidden with a strong genjutsu. I'm positive that even you wouldn't be able to see through it", he said all too calm.

"But, even with Sharingan...?", she asked.

"That's why I'm telling you this. I want you to see through it. You need to train your eyes. By the time we arrive there you have to discover the place by yourself."

That was definitely unexpected. Her level with Sharingan was still basic, and in one day she wouldn't be able to improve it to the point that he was asking for.

"Why are you so concerned about my ability with Sharingan?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's a tool that is very useful for a skilled shinobi such as yourself. Even if you're strong, you need to know how to use it efficiently in battle, this is just a test"

"Then what happens if I don't pass this test?"

"It means that you're not useful as I thought, and you don't deserve to be my partner", he said plainly, but with such arrogance.

She always knew, even before meeting him, that he was an arrogant bastard with a God complex, but the fact that he complimented her by recognizing her skills was enough to take his challenge and do her best.

She looked at his face until he met her eyes. Then she gave him a smile she could only remember giving to Naruto, and then she turned around and started walking.

Itachi thought her smile was beautiful, but he didn't even flinch, instead he followed her, watching the way that her body moved, and the way her hair hung majestically above her shoulders.

Rain fell stronger now, so much that not even the leaves could stop it.

They were both soaked, right to the point where their sandals grew heavier, and each step was harder to give.

"It's going to be difficult to camp here, don't you think?", she said while turning her head slightly to face him, she smirked. It was a joke for her.

Itachi smirked behind his collar too, secretly agreeing with her, but what to do?

Well, they only had one choice.

"We would be able to get there soon, if you'd hurry up", he responded.

"Oh...I knew you would say that", she stated as she jumped up onto a tree branch. She stood there and looked down to where Itachi was, still walking along the ground.

"What, are you lazing off now?" she said mockingly then smirked. Jumping from one tree to another, she started racing to their destination.

Itachi looked at her figure disappearing rapidly amidst the leaves and soon followed her.

He thought he liked her.

* * *

"Stop", Itachi's quiet voice commanded.

Sakura froze in place and waited for him to give indications. She looked at him and he showed her with signals, the sets of traps placed in front of them. She was almost stepping onto one. This wasn't a good start, if she hadn't even been able to notice the booby-traps, how was she supposed to undo an ANBU leveled genjutsu?

Sakura started to panic.

'Relax, Sakura, you gain nothing by turning into a nervous wreck, remember what this guy taught you'

She looked side-ways at him, being too ashamed to look at him straight on the face.

She finally closed her eyes and started an even rhythm of breathing. Accumulating the exact amount of chakra on her eyes wasn't a difficult thing to do, especially for her, the problem was the pain she had to bare to be able to control it, so she wouldn't lose control on her chakra leveling either.

_That_ wasn't an easy task at all.

Bit by bit she felt the warm flow of chakra soothing the pain on her eyes as the Sharingan appeared.

Good.

When she opened them, she saw no difference on her environment, so she started to accumulate more and more chakra to rise the level of her doujutsu.

She began to see small things embedded with chakra, objects hidden amidst the grass.

'Relax...'

Itachi was looking at her with real interest. He could tell she was really trying.

He felt terribly proud when he heard her gasp.

She had seen it.

Sakura turned her gaze to him with wide opened eyes; totally surprised by the place they were in and by her own ability to actually see it.

She felt proud of herself too.

It was shocking; they were standing behind the last shrub before reaching a big and bare meadow where the base was located. It was a very old military enclosure, with high walls of concrete surrounded by spike wire.

Itachi was aware of this fact long before they arrived, and when they did, he made sure to stop before the prairie.

On her eyes, the real image faded in and out the genjutsu, for it was hard to maintain the correct flow to her eyes and bare the strain it provoked, but it was a big step anyway.

"The kyuubi is supposed to be here", Itachi whispered.

Sakura's heart tightened painfully.

She hoped Naruto wasn't here anymore.

"Should we infiltrate?" she asked, too shy for her own liking.

He only nodded in return and then they started to move as fast and silent as they could.

They reached a wall and climbed it. On the other side was an empty training field and one open door that leaded to the interior of the building.

They jumped in. The darkness of this starless night played on their side, so visibly they wouldn't have many problems. They just had to mask their presence effectively and be as quiet as a rock.

They entered the building. Apparently it was empty, but it was only one of many other that were left to visit.

The air felt thick and it was hard to breathe, it was dense. It reminded them both of the atmosphere in the cave where the Akatsuki had their head quarters. There was an eerie silence and a cold breeze that bristled the little hairs behind Sakura's neck.

Her heart was beating fast; so fast she was sure it was audible and was even making an echo on the silent walls.

Soon they reached a bifurcation. Sakura knew Itachi knew where each corridor leaded, but he couldn't talk, not even whisper or it would sound like a live concert for anyone in this place. So he indicated her with his finger to go to right and that he would go left.

In a second he disappeared and she was there alone. She hurried but her legs where so shaky that she was afraid to fall in any instant.

'What's wrong with you, Sakura! You have done worst than this many times before!' her inner Mia said, on the other hand was her inner Sakura reminding her that her fear was born on the doubt of Naruto's whereabouts. If he would be here, it would definitely be a problem. It would mean that she would have to get involved on a fight with none else than Uchiha Itachi.

Her heart skipped a beat at that thought.

She couldn't fight him, not even with Naruto on her side. It was impossible and now that she had spent some time with him, she has been able to see the enormous gap between them. He was untouchable.

If she was to find Naruto, she would do anything to get him to leave this dreaded place.

A sound on her right.

Shit.

She hadn't been paying enough attention to her surroundings to realize there was a door on her right side that was about to being opened.

She jumped backwards and hid on a corner, hoping that the darkness would be enough to fool the person who came out from the other side of the door.

'Hide your chakra, dammit!'

The person who entered was a shinobi, and he was quite tall. He wore an ANBU mask with two red lines at each side. He looked in her direction. Sakura froze. Cold sweat started to run and her feet felt like stone, she couldn't move.

What was she going to do, if she just stood here, it was almost certain that the shinobi would find her, and with the Akatsuki cloak that she was in, they would surely try and kill her. If she just stood here, she would be caught and branded as an Akatsuki. But she could take the chance of attacking the enemy, showing herself.

She took a deep breath, Mia then got out from her frozen body and in a second she absolutely changed her stance. Sharingan shone, ready for the fight, already filling her eyes with chakra. She was so full of adrenaline that not even the pain was noticeable.

"Show yourself!" A deep manly voice sounded, and soon, Sakura found herself melting and drowning on her own tears.

"...Na...Narut-to?" she whispered, for her voice seemed trapped on the bottom of her throat. Her knees collapsed and she fell, no longer being able to contain so much stress in her tiny body.

"...Who is it?" he said, now utterly confused. He gave a step forward, getting closer to the person that had just fell.

"Naruto...it's me...", she whispered smiling, with green eyes full of tears.

"Sakura-Chan?!", his eyes grew as big as hers. He rushed to her side and kneeled to see her face close by.

He saw green, glittering, beautiful eyes.

And he cried with her on his arms, as he had dreamed countless nights before.

With shaking hands, she softly grabbed his face and directed it to her.

"Naruto, you must go away now, run as fast as you can without being noticed" Sakura whispered in a hushed tone, with a shade of desperation that she was trying to hide from him.

"What are you talking about?" he replied, matching her tone.

"Itachi, he's here, he's looking for you, Naruto, you can't beat him, go, run", her anxiety was becoming more evident.

"Itachi? Did he do something to you...or...?"

"Naruto! Please, run...please", she cried, and softly, tenderly, she approached his face to her and kissed him on the lips. It was warm and sweet, as she would have never imagined a kiss would be.

She loved it.

"...I want to see you again...I want to be with you, go out on dates, kiss you like this everyday, so please...", she sobbed, "...please run away...", she bowed her head, not wanting him to see her cry like a baby anymore.

Naruto was shocked; it was all happening so fast that he was sure he would wake up anytime soon. It didn't seem real.

But her kiss did.

"Sakura-Chan…" he grabbed her arms softly and faced her. "...Come back", he simply said and left her with a soft kiss on the forehead.

"...I love you..." she whispered so low that even she barely heard herself.

Naruto didn't catch the last part, but he ran as she said.

'I want to go out on dates with you too, Sakura-Chan...', his heart was happier than what had been in years.

He became invisible in this dark night, and she was so happy to have finally met him. Now she was sure he would be safe. She only had to play it dumb from now on and find Itachi as soon as possible.

Sakura stood up, straightened her pose and started walking quietly through the cold corridor.

When she reached another exit door, her tears were dried and her heart in a normal rhythm again. She found Itachi nearing a gate.

They both reunited and kept checking the rest of the enclosure.

By the time they ended, the sun was already showing its first rays on the horizon, they ran out of the camp. It took them about an hour to run to a safe place in the forest.

Sakura was dead tired, so as soon as they stopped, she threw herself against a root of a big tree and made herself comfortable, not caring about bugs or poisonous herbs.

She closed her eyes and felt the peacefulness of the woods. The scent of plants, the sounds of the wind, of the birds and animals. She heard a river.

Itachi was seated on another root next to her. He was tired too and definitely needed a recess.

"Is there a river around here?" Sakura's weak voice sounded.

"Over there", Itachi indicated a route with his finger.

"I think I'll go there to take a bath", she said all too casual.

He didn't say a word, just as she expected, but after being with him for months now, that really didn't matter.

She dragged herself to the river and when she reached it, she took off her clothes without a whit of shame.

The water was cold, and felt even colder with the freezing temperature. She rapidly cleaned herself and got out. Her clothes were nasty; she needed to clean them as well. So she put on her cloak, which was warm enough and covered her body completely and started to wash her dirty attire. When she finished, she left them hanging on a branch and laid on the grass to take a nap. Itachi was near enough to alert her if any enemies were approaching, therefore, she could sleep without worries.

This time, she dreamt of Naruto.

Itachi thought it would do him good to go and, at least, wash his face on the river too. He headed there hoping to find Mia dressed. He was amused when he found her dressed and asleep. Sleeping like a baby, without a sense of alert nor anything. Here clothes were drying near, so she was naked under that cloak.

After a meticulous examination of his surroundings, Itachi undressed and got into the cold water of the river. He didn't care about its temperature, he was only worried of ending up clean.

He washed his hair, body and teeth as much as he could with only water and when he finished some sunrays were passing through the clouds. He felt Mia stirring a little and then babble about something he couldn't understand.

'So careless, she could give any information without even knowing it', he thought. Sometimes he couldn't believe she was actually a kunoichi, she seemed like a normal teenager full of hormones, with a monstrous physical strength and absolutely careless of the world around her. He just observed her sleep.

There were so many of her behaviors that he didn't understand. Even if she could tell everything while asleep, she was very mysterious. There was something about her that still bothered him, but he didn't know what, it was just a hunch.

"Itachi...", she said with a tired voice. Soon after, she opened her eyes.

The first thing she noticed was that a big sun was shining above her, but it wasn't warming her up too much. Then, she looked to the place she left her clothes and to her relief, they were still there. Finally she sensed another presence and looked in its direction.

She found a shirtless Itachi with his hair loose and wet and his pants half open, seated on a rock next to the river.

In a second all the blood in her body went to her head and somewhere else, and she only had time to bury her face on the cloak. She was already missing oxygen.

"You shouldn't be sleeping so carelessly in the woods", Itachi stated, He noticed her reaction when she saw him and found it quite amusing.

"S-sorry!" she said still covering her tomato-red face. He was right, she had been too dependent on Itachi, but in reality he gave her no warranty. He wouldn't lose his time nor risk his life to save her, so why had she trusted him so much...?

'Stupid Sakura, you keep messing things up'

"Your clothes are dry, you should put them or you'll catch a cold", he told her absent-mindedly.

"Yes...", she said too rushed and blushing even more because he had realized she was naked under the robe.

Sakura stood up and went to gather her clothes. She found it difficult to dress without taking off her cloak and with the constant stare of Itachi.

He was doing it purposely, just to make her uncomfortable. She kind of kept him entertained.

When she was ready, she laid on a tree and enjoyed the weak sun. She tried hard not to look on Itachi's direction, but once in a while, she stole some glances, just to look at his gorgeous body. In that moment she felt so attracted to him.

She started shivering when he stood up and walked in her direction. He sat in front of her at a reasonable distance. Still, it wasn't enough distance for Sakura's heated body. Her hormones where leaving havocs on her logical mind.

He adopted a relaxed position, with crossed legs and both arms straight behind his body, supporting his weight. His head fell a little backwards and he looked at the sky and the gray clouds already disappearing of it. For a moment he remained silent, making Sakura die in tension. Then, he spoke.

"The kyuubi wasn't there, so two things could have provoked that situation: one, he had already left the training field to another mission or to Konoha, or two: he realized we were there and he escaped", Itachi stated, still looking at the sky.

"It's very probable that he had already left, after all, this mission was programmed a week ago, and he was supposed to stay only three days, according to the information we have of the schedule.", Sakura tried to seem relaxed, even if she didn't sound too convincing, he could mistake her tension for his half-naked presence a few centimeters from her, so she wasn't very worried.

"He had a mission at Suna after this, but first he should report to Konoha", Itachi continued.

"Then what shall we do?", she asked. She needed to gain time at all costs. Just enough to take information from Itachi.

"We will give him a welcome party in Suna", he said, finally straightening out his head so he was now looking at her.

"You think so...", she said unsure.

"Any compliments?", he asked plainly.

"No, no, is just that...I would like to rest a little first, you know, on a hotel or something more comfortable than a forest", she said more to herself than to him.

"Fine", he simply said.

"How are your eyes doing?", Itachi asked just by curiosity, he wanted to know how her Sharingan worked.

"Ah? eh, good, I mean, they don't hurt anymore", she was startled by Itachi's question, even if she knew that there wasn't a hint of concern in it.

"Then you should practice some more", he said.

Sakura nodded and kept her gaze glued to the floor, because she didn't feel herself capable of looking at the man in front of her.

Itachi noticed her tension, and of course he knew the reason, but he was just in the mood to bother her a little.

"Am I troubling you, Mia?" he said with a deep voice, purposely omitting the "san" suffix on her name.

"N-no, not at all...I mean...well..." she stammered.

'What happened to the "san"?' Inner Sakura screamed.

"Why is that?" he said with an even more sensual voice, now approaching her a little.

"Nothing, r-really...", Sakura was a nervous wreck now.

"Really...?", now he was inches away from her, and his left hand took her chin and lifted it to face his. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her lips.

"What...are you...?", she said, she was way too uncomfortable.

Itachi put one arm on her side, enclosing her and approached even more.

"...Doing? what do you think?", he whispered on her lips that now were almost touching.

"Itachi..." she said, but couldn't say "stop it", because both inner Sakura and Mia were encouraging her to go on. This is what she had wanted all her life, someone who held her, someone who kissed her.

For some reason, his name alone on her lips sounded so delightful to his ears. It was her tone of voice, evidently aroused that made him burn.

Itachi was very good at suppressing his hormones, but right now, he just didn't want to.

With a single movement of his hand, her chin got closer to his face and their lips met. He started the kiss, pressing softly his lips against her warm ones.

Sakura felt a fire on her belly that was filling her with adrenaline and nice sensations.

She responded the kiss little by little, moving her mouth against his, feeling the massaging moves and starting a rhythm. Soon her lips parted as she let his tongue softly brush hers.

His kiss was passionate, lustful, something she couldn't get enough of. It made her think of his body near hers, of his hands roving her, pleasuring her, filling the part of her that after all those years was still missing. It made her want to kiss him like that in return.

She rubbed, licked and even bit softly his lower lip, enjoying the burning heaven she was in now.

They separated a little reluctantly to regain their breaths, just an inch; their lips were still brushing.

Her eyes looked down at his mouth, wondering how was it that that thing could give her such sensations. His eyes moved from her lips to her eyes, and he wondered why he hadn't done this before.

He kissed her again, this time stronger and more heatedly. The hand that was on her chin, moved to the back of her head to press it against his mouth, while his whole body hovered over her.

He needed this right now, and he knew she did too. Why stop then?

His other hand slowly opened the collar of her cloak, lowering it until he was able to touch her shoulder. He caressed it softly, and then went lower on her arm, she pushed her body to him.

She felt his warm body against hers. His muscled chest pressing against her little breasts, his hand firmly on her small back, his lips pleasurably on hers...

She lusted him.

* * *

A/N: hi everybody!! new chapter, what did you think of it? xD Some narusaku here AND itasaku (yeah baby!!), finally!! 

It took me so much to actually start writing this chappie, just because I was so lacking inspiration...:P, but here it is.

Tell if you liked it or not or whatever.

Thanks again to my beatiful beta SharinganAngel!!

Review, you guys!!!!!!!!!!!


	11. Itachi

_reposted_

* * *

Itachi was frustrated.

They had wasted time and energy following a schedule that seemed to be wrong. He felt naive by thinking that it would be that easy...

There was something that didn't fit in all this mess. He would find out.

One way or another.

He looked at the girl walking before him.

Early, when they arrived Suna and realized that the Kyuubi would not appear, he had said that they should take sometime before continuing and plan everything perfectly. She had said that they could go and look for powerful jutsus. He had said that that was what the Akatsuki did, and that the search for the Jiinchuuriki was nothing but that.

"How would I know if none tells me anything?" she had said in a very childish fashion.

He explained that the Jiinchuuriki were the biggest source of power, that any shinobi would like to possess and that Akatsuki's task was to tame that tremendous power.

"Why would you want such a power?" she had asked and he thought that she really lacked ambition.

"To rule this world", he had replied. Finally he was telling her the great ambition of Akatsuki.

She raised an eyebrow and made an incredulous sound. She said it was ridiculous. He inwardly agreed with her, but he was in this for his own selfish goals.

He saw her smile slightly; a very confusing smile, he had thought.

Now they were walking to a small village in favour of the rest. She wanted to spend the night in an inn, and because he was tired, he agreed.

"Itachi..." she interrupted his thoughts. He raised his gaze to look at her, but she was still walking without looking at him.

"When did you learn to use Sharingan?" her voice held a bit of curiosity.

"At eight", he replied. He didn't tend to think about his past very often; he had almost forgotten completely.

"Wow, that's quite something...I can imagine the weight that fell on your shoulders when you mastered it", she said.

Why this sudden interest of his past?

"..." He didn't feel like answering.

They remained silent.

Itachi needed sometime to put his thoughts in order and find out about this strange series of events.

They eventually would have to go to Konoha and find the kyuubi there. He wasn't very comfortable with it, but he was tired of delaying it. Hopefully, they would succeed at sneaking in there and wouldn't be brought into any unnecessary fights.

"How did you obtained Mangekyou?" she spoke again. She was very talkative today, wasn't she?

"By meeting one special condition", he said.

"Which one?"

"Kill my closest friend", he said plainly.

She suddenly stopped and turned around to look at him with an exaggerated incredulous expression.

She was probably going to talk about how selfish he was for killing his best friend just to obtain power and all that stuff that had been told to him more then a few times.

"You actually had a best friend?" ok, that question startled him.

He had to recognize she was quite amusing.

"Ah", he said, indifferent to her insinuating words.

"Wow, that was unexpected..." she said smiling.

Unexpected? the mistake was expecting something in the first place.

"You shouldn't judge people like that", he said a little bit annoyed.

He hated that people _expected_ something of him.

She sat on a rock and smiled softly, almost nostalgically.

"...Sorry, is just that...I would have never believed that if someone else had told me"

He said nothing, he just sat on a root near her.

"...I wish I could obtain it...", she breathed out more to herself than anyone else.

He looked at her and got surprised to see her saddened expression. Her eyes were full of sorrow and he mildly wondered why. Not that he was very interested in it anyway.

"We better hurry, I want to take a bath, badly", she said getting up.

"Ah", he merely said. He wanted a bath too.

* * *

A table and two chairs sat idle next to a big window.

Sakura sat in one of them, drinking green tea, silently enjoying the assertiveness of Itachi's choice. This was definitely a nice place.

It was a very cold night, and she was covered from neck to toes with clothes over clothes. It warmed up her body and made this particular moment one of comfort and relaxation.

She unconsciously smiled at such thought.

On the other side sat Itachi. He was drinking green tea as well and his gaze was focused on the darkness outside.

His thoughts were a mystery to the green eyed kunoichi, but he seemed to be in deep thought.

'Maybe thinking about yesterday? Mmmm, no, I don't think so', she stated inwardly, a simple kiss wouldn't be enough to enter his occupied mind. But it was enough to enter hers.

Of course that for him had been only that, a heated moment in which they shared a pleasurable kiss, nothing else.

But for her, it was different.

It had been her first kiss, the one that she had saved for Sasuke for many years. Ironically, it was his brother who took it. But probably he didn't even know that he had been her first.

Without realizing, she had been staring at him for quite sometime now.

His eyes were still fixated on the outside, lost in a deep sea of blood, burying deeper into the dark fog of his thoughts.

'What's in your mind, Itachi?', Sakura wondered. She took another sip of her tea and closed her eyes. Her body felt warmer.If she smoked, she would have liked a cigarette right about now. She chuckled to herself, calling the attention of the elder Uchiha. She quickly shut her mouth and blushed. Now he was probably thinking that she was insane. But he moved his gaze back to the window instead of glaring at her. Unconsciously she let her thoughts take the form of words.

"What keeps your mind so busy, Itachi?", she said very quietly and slowly.

"Why the sudden interest?", he replied, which startled Sakura, for only then she realized she had actually voiced her thoughts aloud.

"I didn't...intend to voice that", she said shyly. Some minutes of tension passed where none of them said a word and Itachi's eyes were fixed on her flushed form. Then he looked outside again and she felt very relieved.

"...Many things", he said out of nothing. She understood that he was answering her question and somehow it felt odd. She wasn't expecting him to answer anyway, but as always his response was as vague and empty as possible.

She sighed. In the end, he never answered anything.

She bent over and supported her head with the palm of her hand, her elbow on the table, giving her a drunk-tired look.

"Do you ever have your mind go blank...?", she said, followed by a yawn. Sleep was making its first call onto her.

"No", he replied moving his stare back to her. She closed her eyes and felt herself getting lost in the trance of sleep.

"Funny, because your eyes always seem empty...", she whispered half-asleep, "...except for yesterday", she continued, placing her arms crossed above the table, supporting her head. She was looking at him with half-lidded eyes. Sleep was so powerful in her that she didn't even mind to say those things. She merely blushed a little.

He narrowed his eyes one bit but said nothing, he just kept staring at her. She reopened her eyes in an attempt to stay awake and focused her gaze on Itachi's red ones. She only saw the usual coldness in them. In this state of half slumber, she didn't feel afraid of recognizing that she would like to see the fire she saw in them the day before again, when he kissed her like that, with so much passion. It felt wrong, but she knew that given the chance, she would do it again.

She felt herself missing that sensation.

She wanted a kiss again.

Sakura looked at his face, his eyes and then his lips. Without thinking she moistened her own with the tip of her tongue.

She wanted those lips.

Itachi knew that look. He knew what she was thinking. It was very obvious anyway, she wasn't even trying to conceal it.

He smirked.

And she smirked too.

Now her eyes were glued to his, and she observed delighted how his look changed bit by bit to become into a very dark one.

One of desire.

Sakura felt a rush of something very warm on her lower abdomen and made her gasp silently.

His stare was becoming more and more intense, it was devouring her, it was telling her one thousand ways of how to pleasure her, it was raping her without shame, and she could only melt under it.

And suddenly his eyes were filled with what she wanted to see.

Lust for her.

She smirked and rose a little, laying her upper body on the table, approaching Itachi. Her knees were supporting her on the chair.

She was very close to him, some inches away maybe. She was looking at his lips again.

Damn!, how she wanted to kiss him... Sakura was slowly moving forward, closing the distance between them at a desperately slow pace. He lost his patience and kissed her first. He grabbed her shoulders while pressing his lips to hers. He moved them, caressed them and tasted them softly, mixing within her. Her tongue made the first move and brushed past his lower lip, making him shudder in desire.

He moved her to lie on top of the table and pinned her down with his own body, kissing her hungrily.

His mouth traced a path on her jaw to her ear, there he placed soft kisses and one final and soft bite on her lobe that made her moan. He continued down her neck to her clavicle. He sucked in softly the sensitive skin there, then bit down gently.

His hands moved to her waist and slowly went up to caress the underside of her breasts. Even with clothes on, it felt like heaven for her. She needed the clothes to disappear.

Her train of thought was suddenly crushed when he took one covered nipple into his mouth and played with it, softly caressing it with his tongue and pressing it in between his teeth.

She moaned.

He smirked.

His hard was pressing on his pants, making him very uncomfortable.

With one hand he reached down to the zipper and undid it to release his manhood.

"...Itachi", she whispered sensually, and that only made his desire grow.

In her head was a part yelling at her that this was terribly wrong, but she didn't listen to it.

It was her first time, and with nonetheless than the Uchiha Itachi himself... The brother of the man she had dreamed to share this moment with. But lust was numbing her sense of reason, giving place for the pure animalistic instinct.

And that night they both received what they wanted.

Pleasure.

* * *

Sasuke snapped open his eyes in the middle of the night feeling a big pressure on his chest, so strong that he grabbed it trying to find a release. He felt scared.

Had he been having nightmares again?, probably. But it wasn't just that.

He got up and in a rush of fury put his clothes on, packed the necessary and left his room.

He ran to the big gates, escaping from the village for the second time, just that now, there was no full moon above him, and no Sakura to plead for him to stay.

His gut contracted and he unconsciously knew what the reason was. Then he jumped on a tree and stopped in his tracks, his breath ragged, his eyes wide open.

Why the hell was he running away from the village again?

It was the biggest act of stupidity ever. He knew he was in no condition as to fight his brother as of yet, he didn't even know where to find him! But there was something inside of him urging him to go and beat the shit out of Itachi, even if he knew it would be the other way around.

He tried to calm himself first.

Sasuke turned his head around to see the sleeping village behind his back. He looked at it for a moment.

_'Hate me, despise me and live a long and unsightly life; run, run and cling to your pitiful life, and some day, when you have the same eyes as me, come before me'_

Sharingan blazed in the darkness of the forest. He didn't have Mangekyou; he had decided long time ago not to follow his brother's steps. But...

_'Have you achieved it?' _

_'I've never needed any of your advices' _

_'I see...Well, I have no time for you today, Sasuke'_

Dammit!, he had lost pathetically. Was the Mangekyou really that necessary?

His gaze turned away from the village.

'Akatsuki...eh?...' And the thick forest opened itself for the angered avenger, whose search was about power, revenge, and some lost pink-haired kunoichi.

* * *

Itachi had slept for about three hours as usual and when he woke up, very early in the morning, the first thing he noticed was her scent, impregnated all over the room, on the bed, the sheets, all over him and it troubled him greatly. Not because he had slept with a woman, but because this particular one had made him lose control, and Uchiha Itachi never lost control of himself.

He got up from the bed and entered the bathroom to have a shower.

It hadn't been a wise decision to get involved with his teammate, even if he _had_ really enjoyed it. But it was already done and he should have to be careful not to do it too often; it would be pointless and a great waste of his time. Plus, she could get the wrong message, and that would be bothersome for sure. Anyway, who would have though little kunoichi was a virgin...She was well grown up, she was beautiful and smart, and he mildly wondered whom she would've been saving herself for.

This so called Snake was a box of riddles for him.

Outside the bathroom, lay a well-awake Sakura on her bed.

She woke to find herself alone and her head buried in the pillow beside hers, filling her nostrils with the manly scent of the elder Uchiha.

After all the time she had wasted following Sasuke in her genin days, all the time she passed training to become the powerful kunoichi she was now, after all the people she had met during her nineteen years of life, she had ended up flailing in a bed with Uchiha Itachi.

And she couldn't help but feel sorrow for it.

She had failed her mission, she had betrayed Naruto, Tsunade and her village.

She felt pathetic.

Tears attempted to leave her eyes, but she wouldn't let them. She was strong enough now.

But what would Naruto say? Was betraying her most beloved friend worth enough for spending a pleasurable night with her enemy? Certainly not.

But what to do?, it was all done and nothing could revert it.

She should stop thinking about it and act as if nothing had ever happened.

She heard the shower in the bathroom and hoped he would stay there forever. She didn't feel capable of facing him with so many thoughts torturing her.

'You screwed it up big this time, Mia', Sakura thought annoyed. She turned to lay on her side, facing the big window above the table. She felt like beating the crap out of that damned table.

The door of the bathroom opened to reveal a moistened Itachi whose Sharingan wasn't directed to her.

She got up with closed eyes to go to the bathroom.

"Good morning, Itachi", she said with her voice cold as never.

"Good morning", he replied, indifferent as ever.

She quickly entered the bathroom, hiding herself from him.

He almost rolled his eyes.

* * *

Itachi felt the tenseness of the ambient, but acted the same as always.

He had said they would train and perfect their taijutsu today.

He had discovered that even if she had a monstrous strength, she was lacking a lot of taijutsu skills.

So he corrected her pose, the way her hands moved and how to effectively block attacks without showing openings.

He never liked the idea of being a teacher. It required patience and he certainly didn't have enough. Luckily she was a fast learner and he didn't have many troubles with her.

He decided it was a good chance to train himself and see how far she could go.

That was how they spent more time than previously thought on that inn. They started training everyday and in a matter of a week her improvement was evident.

He felt satisfied with the results.

They were sparring now.

Her movements were faster and better aimed. Her hits were precise. Her chakra control had gotten even better and she could actually endure a spar with him.

But still, there was no comparison between them. There would never be.

She threw him a kick and quickly jumped above to stand behind him. There she attacked with a series of punches and very quick movements. Itachi blocked them all.

He turned around to kick her in the stomach but she had already moved to his side. There she attacked with a tight fist full of chakra. He stopped it with his own hand but regretted it instantly as he felt the painful effect of her chakra against his bones. She took the chance to hit him with her free hand but this time he was careful not to touch her fist, so he grabbed her wrist instead.

Seeing both of her hands occupied, she attacked him with a strong kick, but he stopped it as well, and when she attemped to throw him out of balance with her other leg, he hit her knee and they both fell.

He on top of her.

Itachi felt her chakra entering his body, painfully struggling his muscles and he quickly released her. She brought both of her legs to the front to hit him on the abdomen, but he jumped backwards, standing on his feet again and a few meters away from her range of attack.

They both stopped.

Mia was still on the ground, regaining her breath and looking at him with predatory eyes.

For some reason, the intensity of her stare made his abdomen very warm, bringing back memories of that same look, but in very different circumstances.

This time, he came at her.

She quickly jumped backwards to avoid his strong punch. But as soon as she got to touch the ground he received her with a very "polite" kick that sent her flying against a tree.

His speed had changed and it annoyed her a little for they were supposed to be just sparring.

"Hey!", she said, racing to him again.

She hit the ground so hard it made a big hole, breaking the soil into a million pieces. She hoped that at least it had confused him.

She quickly moved in between the dirt to catch his back, effectively landing a chakra filled punch.

He showed no sign of pain, turning around and grabbing her from behind, so fast she didn't realize what happened until she felt his body tightly against her back, his arms holding down hers.

"You've gotten stronger" he said next to her ear.

She resisted the urge to gasp as sensations made it up from her lower abdomen to her chest and finally to her cheeks.

She was blushing like mad.

"You finally noticed", she said in a triumphant manner, simultaneously coupled with a smirk.

"Of course", he replied in a lower tone.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

He pulled her closer and moved his head to her neck, taking in her scent which seemingly had put him into trance.

He wanted her again.

Dammit.

* * *

A/N: Hi everyone!! as you can see this chapter is reposted. The reason? last night I had a gloroious rush of inspiration so I started writing around 4 in the morning xD, when I finished it I sent it to my dear beta SharinganAngel, who returned it in top timing :P. When I got my hands on it again I could barely keep my eyes opened, I'm talking about 6 am xD, so I uploaded just how it was without giving a second look at it.

Another thing. I wanted to apologize to everyone for how long I've taken to upload the recent chapters. I've been terribly busy with college and work so I've had close to no time to do my own stuff. With chapter 11 I also had the problem with this fucking virus I hate oh so much ¬¬. Now my computer is working "decently", but I'm having problems with the video card . is there something this virus can't do????!!!! dammit!!

And as always, I'm very glad to read all of your reviews :D, I love them! they make me want to write even amidst this hell I'm living right now :P

thanks to you guys!!!

don't forget to review!!


	12. The perfect mask

She had fallen like a kid who craved candy.

It was so easy for him to make her melt under his touch; she felt embarrassed for being such an easy target.

But how was she going to fight him at the level she was? he had taken her virginity, so he was the first man in her life. It wasn't something that could be shaken off with ease.

And it wasn't just the crazy nights in which their bodies intertwined, it wasn't the hungry kisses being placed in the perfect places; it was the guilt that attacked her after those dream-like nights. It was the painful stab of betrayal that made her chest so heavy, and her thoughts so foggy.

It was Naruto's face that appeared in between those moments of self-pity.

And she regretted having accepted this mission.

There was something that was in her favor at least. She had finally managed to withdraw the purpose of Akatsuki from Itachi's own lips. All she needed now were the details and her mission would be complete.

But there was something else she had yet to plan. Her escape. She was sure as hell that Itachi wouldn't be too happy at the realization that she was a spy, and he would never let her go without a fight.

Sakura knew that she had grown very strong and that if any of her teammates saw her now they would not recognize her.

But never in a million years would she be able to endure a real fight with the Uchiha Itachi.

She knew that the end was very close. Once she had pieced together the tiny bits of information that she had yet to acquire, her time here would be up.

The thought of leaving Itachi put extra weight on her chest, one that she constantly moved to the back of her head and kept there, in the solitude of unconsciousness, hidden from her thoughts during day, plaguing her nightmares at night.

She knew it wouldn't be easy.

She had found herself attached to him in a whole new level.

She was addicted to him.

Damn! how life complicates everything!, she should have infiltrated, being placed in a team with the leader and collect all the necessary information, and then simply escape without anyone true to the realization of who she actually was.

But destiny had a very twisted sense of humor, and chose her life, her now very messed up life to toy with.

Uchiha Itachi...who would've thought…!

…She was terribly in lust with Uchiha Itachi...

She couldn't take his voice out of her mind, his lips out of her senses, his touches from her body...

"...Ninjutsu, you should know how important it is to possess at least a few powerful ones..." Itachi had been talking for a while now and she hadn't been listening. The truth was that she didn't care what he had to say; she only wanted to feel him...

"...Mia?", he asked.

"S-sorry...", she said ashamed.

'Focus on what he's talking about dammit, not on him!'

"Show me", he said plainly.

'Ninjutsu eh?'

"Ok", she said and started to recall the big amount of ninjutsu she had stolen from Orochimaru. Aside from those, she only possessed medical Justus, some of which were useful in battle, but the rest should be used only for regenerative processes and healing.

She smirked.

'I'll show you, Itachi...'

"Doton, densetsu no hebi no jutsu!"

* * *

Two big lessons she had taken out of this spar session: 

One, she was way too slow with hand seals and two,

There was no way in the world to beat Itachi at ninjutsu.

Sakura was exhausted to death. She had lost so much chakra and now she didn't have enough to heal any of her scratches. She was bleeding on her right side, one rib had been broken but she had effectively healed it, there was one big cut on her right leg and her knee was currently a mess of dirt, blood and bones.

The thing that worried her the most at the moment was the deep wound on her side, for it was letting a lot of blood go to waste, and she couldn't fix it in her current state.

She might say that Itachi had overdone it a little bit.

She glared at him but he seemed unaffected.

"Itachi, I can't move", she said, venom dripping from her tongue, reprimanding him as if she were his mother.

He stood there, looking at her damaged form as if studying the wounds and the possibility to heal them.

Or maybe he was just choosing between letting her thrown there and run or actually help her.

He got closer and bent down to her level. There he took a closer look at her bleeding side and realized she might actually die of blood loss if the wound wasn't healed.

He tried something he hadn't done in years.

Heal someone.

Itachi placed one hand at her side, looking intently at what he was doing, absolutely in control of his chakra.

His chakra entered her and she bit down her lower lip to endure the pain.

He found the rupture and tried to regenerate the cells around the cut from the inside out, that way, it would stop bleeding and would give her time to recover and heal it herself, and it wouldn't get infected in the meantime.

This was actually a difficult task for him, because he never dedicated time to learn medical jutsu, he only possessed the basic knowledge of chakra usage and cell composition. But in this situation it was enough.

She sighed when he finished, and when she looked down at his work she actually smiled for it was a very well done healing work.

"Thanks", she muttered very low and quick.

Then she stood up and felt like fainting, so Itachi helped her walk until they reached the inn.

"I think you overdid it, Itachi", she said.

"You should've been stronger, it was a baby training", he said indifferently. In reality, he knew he had been too harsh, but he couldn't go soft with her or else she would get used to soft fights and her level would decrease.

He knew she wasn't weak.

Sakura almost bit down her tongue to keep the silence. She wanted to reply to that insult, but she decided better. He was right, she should've been stronger indeed, and as the result she was in this state.

She hated it when he was right.

Sakura walked to the bathroom and turned on the hot water until the bathtub was filled. When she stepped in she felt as if the heavens had opened themselves for her.

It was oh so comfortable!

The warm water was slowly soothing her sore body, and soon it tainted so the comforting liquid became pink as it cleaned the blood from her wounds.

When she finished and had put her clean clothes on they were summoned by Leader.

A Jinchuuriki had been caught.

In an instant their environment was replaced as they quickly started the replica jutsu. They were standing above the fingers of the giant statue of this death god, where the extraction took place.

She remembered the process Leader had taught her when she just entered Akatsuki.

"With this one only two Jinchuuriki will be left. I hope they will be captured soon, Itachi, Mia; Zetsu, Kisame", Leader spoke with his deep and frightening voice. She felt as if she was being reprimanded for not cleaning her room. She smirked.

"Let's begin", Leader said, and they all concentrated their energies to extract the Yonbi of this boy.

Sakura felt awfully wrong for being in this ceremony. She felt as if she was betraying Naruto himself.

When she entered this organization, she hoped for the dear that she wouldn't have to be present for an extraction.

And here she was.

* * *

Finally. 

Sakura was overexcited, her chest was rising and falling uncontrollably, her senses were sharp as never.

She knew now.

She let a few chuckles escape her lips as she felt her head racing.

She had all the information she needed.

Leader had been "kind" enough as to explain to her the details. He seemed convinced with her act.

She should have been an actress instead of a shinobi.

After two exhausting days of extraction, she was in the room of the inn she and Itachi shared. She sat on the table while he was taking a bath.

All she had to do now was escape.

A wide grin formed on her features as she finally saw the big window of escaping this nightmare of a mission.

To escape him especially.

Memories of their nights together flooded in her mind and made her wish to repeat them over and over again, she even wished she didn't have to go.

But her mind was cold now, cold as the snow that fell on the windowpane.

"I'll go buy some stuff, want me to bring you anything?" she said, preparing herself for her big escapade.

"No", he replied plainly from inside the bathroom.

"Ok", she said and grabbed her cloak. She decided to leave the rest of her stuff so he wouldn't suspect anything.

Sakura walked to the door and then she stopped.

'Itachi...'

She was forcing herself to leave her biggest addiction, and follow her reason, which was currently her best option. She had never gained anything when following her heart's commands. She had gotten stronger thanks to her brilliant mind and her logical skills...

Sakura was sure that her childish behavior had been gone with Sasuke years ago, she knew that fairy tales didn't come true, and up until now she had been proud of herself because she always kept herself glued to reality.

Then why the hell was it being so difficult to give that damn doorknob one turn and run away from this place?!

She sighed.

She felt frustrated and angry with herself for being of such a weak spirit.

"Damn..." she muttered under her breath.

* * *

The extraction had tired him more that expected. He was barely keeping his eyes open as hot water ran down his toned body. His eyes were hurting too, as he allowed this brief moment to deactivate Sharingan. He suddenly realized how bad his eyesight had gotten but as usual he paid no attention to it. 

Now he needed to rest his body and mind as later he would train genjutsu with Mia. He could teach her some good genjutsus, taking into acount that she had the Sharingan and she had yet to improve her usage of it.

"I'll go buy some stuff, want me to bring you something?", he heard her yell from inside the room.

"No" he replied. Why would she want to go out with a freezing weather such as this?

"Ok", she said and he barely heard her.

Some minutes passed before he finally heard the door close behind her.

Shampoo washed away from his hair as he stood under the shower, enjoying the hot water and relaxing himself after the tension he had accumulated the last two days.

When he got out and started to dry himself with the towel, he noticed how long his hair had grown; it was already reaching his lower back. Maybe he would cut it one of these days. At the moment, he just tied it.

He dressed with clean and dry clothes and exited the bathroom. The ambient was warm, so he supposed they had heating.

He found Mia standing on the table, seemingly fixing the light hanging of the ceiling.

"Why are you replacing the bulb? we'll leave soon", he asked looking at her stretched figure.

"While I'm here I want to see, you know", she said as a matter of fact.

"How are your eyes doing?" he asked. Maybe they could start training genjutsu right away.

"Fine, why? you want to train?", she asked, leaving what she was doing with the lamp and focusing on him only.

"Yeah, genjutsu" he said.

"Oh, it's ok, we can start now", she said all too hyper.

"Ah..." he replied while he turned around to put his heavy cloak on.

He was just about to exit the room, expecting her to follow him, when her voice stopped him instead.

"Itachi...", she said quietly.

He merely turned a little, just to make clear that he was listening.

"Your hair is wet...you should untie it or you'll catch a cold. It's freezing outside, you know...", she said with an unsure tone to her voice. She didn't know why she should be concerned with his health; he could die for all she cared, but her inner medic kicked in, or at least that's the only explanation she could give herself.

Now Itachi fully turned to look at her, a surprised expression gracing his features as he stared at her flushed face.

He only smirked.

He untied his hair, just as she said. He thought she was right.

When he grabbed the doorknob to go out, he stopped.

"You're starting to sound like a wife", he said and left, almost chuckling for he could imagine her dumbfounded expression.

Sakura stood there in shock.

A wife?!

Stupid Itachi for saying such stupid things and make her feel so stupid!

She was as red as a tomato.

Sakura angrily grabbed her cloak and put it on while she left the room mumbling a thousand curses for the elder Uchiha.

Once outside the inn, the full blow of snowy air hit her right in the face. She mildly wondered how he thought to train with this weather.

He was walking some feet ahead of her and she had to hurry to catch him because she lost sight of him amidst the people of the village.

They went to the forest, to the spot they trained everyday that was clearly marked with a series of cut down trees, big holes in the ground and destroyed rocks and plants.

The place was a mess, but it served them as a training field.

Now the snow covered all with a thick layer of white.

She stepped next to a log she had placed some days ago. The sky above was grey; hovering in them were those menacing clouds.

"Ok, so you want us to practice Genjutsu in _this _weather?", she said with a trembling voice, her hands rubbing her arms in an attempt to produce body heat.

"It shouldn't be a problem, it'll help you focus on your chakra and have better control of your sensations. Things such as cold and heat are psychological, you should know that", he replied calmly.

"Uhmm, ok...", her voice lacked the confidence she desired, but there wasn't much to do considering her poor will to actually train when she could be in the warmth of the room enjoying a cup of hot tea.

"Activate Sharingan", he commanded.

She nodded and did what he said. A stabbing pain was immediate at the back of her head as she forced chakra into her non-Uchiha eyes. Sakura had to act as if it was normal, because he still thought she was an Uchiha.

Her eyes felt like burning embers as Sharingan appeared.

Recently she had discovered that the third black comma of her Sharingan had appeared, and she felt so proud for it.

Itachi hadn't said anything about it. She was secretly hoping for his acknowledgement

"The basic tool for a Genjutsu user is his or her chakra control, it must be perfect if you want your jutsu to be really effective", he started "You already have a perfect control of it, so that stage is cleared", he continued. Sakura felt butterflies on her stomach with a positive comment directed at her.

"With Sharingan, hand seals aren't necessary, all the Genjutsu is created with your eyes".

Mmm, interesting.

Sakura paid attention to his explanation, and felt fortunate to learn Genjutsu from the person who had mastered them.

Maybe it hadn't been such a bad choice to stay, considering all the things that she could learn from Itachi. She had to take advantage of the situation, she soon realized.

She looked at his face and realized that his eyes were deep black, not red as she was accustomed.

"Try", he simply said.

"On you?" she asked incredulous.

"Of course", he replied, raising an eyebrow.

Ok, this was weird. He even deactivated his Sharingan for her genjutsu to be more effective.

Was he really _that_ confident on his powers?

'No, that's plainly called _ego_'

She focused the chakra, trying to alter his senses and directing the attack to his mind through his emotions, if he had any, of course.

'The exact amount of chakra...and...'

She felt it, strong as a rock falling on her head.

It hurt so terribly much she had to grab the fabric of her cloak to endure the pain a little.

She had felt this enormous amount of strain in her eyes a long time ago, when she faced Orochimaru. She had used a powerful Genjutsu that time, but she could only remember the fight as a blur. After she killed him she realized that it was because she had just used Sharingan.

But now, with her head as cold as the snow surrounding them, she couldn't get to use such a powerful jutsu with all its real potential.

At least she could play a little with Itachi for her own amusement.

She made him stand still, not being able to move. Then Naruto appeared from his shadow, looking at him with fierce eyes. Naruto turned around and another person appeared, one she didn't know. It was an adult man, with brown hair and bangs falling in front of his face. His expression was dead serious and his penetrating eyes made anyone freeze.

Itachi was younger, she realized. His forehead protector lacked the streak on the Konoha symbol, and his eyes appeared a lot less cold.

Little Sasuke appeared next to him. Both of them had Sharingan, Sasuke had Mangekyou and talked to him with a strange voice, one that wasn't his. He said something about being his best friend, and that what he had killed him for would be his death too.

Mangekyou, he said with sadistic expression -Mangekyou will kill you-

But Itachi dispersed her Genjutsu.

What had been all that?

Itachi had Sharingan on once again and looked unaffected.

But Sakura just felt as the tingle of uncontrollable curiosity awoke in her.

"Who was..."

"Your Genjutsu level is better than I expected. It's quite powerful", he said, interrupting her intent of getting into his past.

"Thanks...", she said shyly, understanding that she shouldn't ask any further.

"Work on the durability of it, though", he said closing his eyes.

"Ok", she nodded.

Itachi opened his eyes and looked at her in a way she found very strange. Just when she was about to ask him what was the problem, she realized that her voice wouldn't come out. Her limbs weren't responding and all she could see was his Sharingan, digging into her mind.

Into her memories.

And Sakura panicked.

She quickly used Sharingan to block his attack, but her level was too inferior, so she tried her only option left.

She countered.

And then, she was into his mind, reading him like a book; all his emotions became hers, all his sorrow fell on her chest and suddenly she felt drowned. His memories started to display in front of her eyes, and there she saw the same man that appeared on her Genjutsu. He was Itachi's father, and she couldn't help but feel a suffocating hatred against him.

She was released from the torture of his mind when Itachi activated Mangekyou. She was pushed to the real world and she needed a few seconds to regain her breath and take notice of her surroundings.

"Well done. You countered my Genjutsu very efficently, and even forced me to use Mangekyou", he said, the last part held a tingle of amusement.

Sakura felt her head dizzy and nausea made her want to run away from Itachi.

"I feel sick", she said while grabbing her head.

"You'll get used. It's because you forced yourself too much to counter my attack", he explained.

But Sakura had another thing in mind.

His mind was a very dark place, and in those crazy moments in which she entered and felt what he felt all the time, she thought she would prefer to die than to live any second longer in such place.

How could he stand it? How could it feel so wrong to be him?

His mind was a mixture of suffocating sensations where hatred was the king along with wilted memories.

Would her mind be like that if she was as strong as Itachi?

Now she looked at him and saw nothing but the living hell she saw inside.

His face was the perfect mask and just then she realized how measured each one of his movements were.

All his actions were calculated.

Everything she could see in him was fake.

And she felt frightened.

Who was this man standing in front of her?

"Mia", he said. She hadn't been listening; she had been too deep in thought.

"Uh, yeah? Sorry", she said.

"A storm is coming, we should head to the inn"

She looked up at the sky and noticed that it was snowing quite strong, and that it would become a dangerous storm in mere minutes.

She nodded at him and they started walking back to the village.

'I shouldn't have stayed…'

* * *

A/N: Hello everybody!!! yesh!!!! you must be saying..."What's wrong with her??!! why did she update so soon??!!", and stuff xD, well, just because I took too long with the past chapter and I had all the ideas in my mind already, so I wrote them down :P 

I hope you like this one; I like it a lot, really :D, but I want to ask you if you like the way this story is going. I'm not very sure if I have sticked to the plotline so well...uhmm, as you can see, your opinions are crucial for me as an author :D, so pleaaaase tell me.

Another thing that I've been wondering for a long time now...

How people knows what Sasuke's parent's names are?? I've read a lot of fics in which their names are fugaku for the father and mikoto for the mother. Are they mentioned in some part of the manga or the anime?, cuz up until now I've read all the manga and seen all the anime and I really do not remember having seen their names...mmm well that xD

Thanks to everyone for the ALMOST 100 reviews!!!!!!!!!!!! (99) xDDD

omg omg...I feel stupid now xD

Thanks to those people who review chapter after chapter, always faithful to this lovely story xD, you're not many, but I appreciate you guys a lot, kisses for you all!! I love you!!!!!!

and of course, keep reviewing :D

PS: special thanks to my beta SharinganAngel, as always a great job, I love you too!!!! xD


	13. Red clouds

As usual, he couldn't sleep.

He sat on one a chair next to the window, looking outside at the snow that shone like silver under the dim lights that still illuminated the streets of this little village.

The day had turned out to be very interesting for his taste. Mostly due to bad things though.

Mia's jutsu had affected him more than he wished to admit. He had underestimated her. He had really thought that her level of genjutsu wouldn't be as high as it was. But then again her growing had been going upwards at a tremendous speed since he first met her.

Suddenly he realized that ever since his teammate had been changed, things had been getting slow.

He had to fix that.

But how much trust could be bestowed on this girl? He had learnt that trust was a luxury that he just couldn't afford; in fact, it had took him years to feel comfortable with Kisame around.

He saw things that he didn't like in her memories during that genjutsu. It had been short, a few seconds maybe, but it had given him the sensation that she wasn't who he thought she was.

He was stepping into dangerous terrain, mostly because he had already gotten involved with her.

It had been a great mistake.

He wasn't used to making mistakes.

His intense Sharingan eyes moved to her darkened form.

She was awake, he noticed. She was lamely faking slumber.

"Can't sleep?" he said all of a sudden, his voice quieter then usual.

She stirred a little and pulled the covers up to cover herself completely.

"Mmmm…" she responded with the same quiet tone. It was as if neither of them wanted to disturb the stillness of the night.

He closed his eyes and lowered his head a little.

"What keeps you awake...?", she whispered.

A few moments of silence passed.

"...Thoughts", he merely replied.

"...Your living hell...?", she said quietly.

He narrowed his eyes.

Her back faced him, so he could only see a mound of blankets with wild black hair coming out at the top.

"How can you stand it?", she asked without facing him.

Itachi just remained silent.

"Go back to sleep", he commanded. It had been a bad idea to let her get into his mind. In fact, he didn't have it planned, she just infiltrated him and then he kicked her out as soon as he realized. He had used Mangekyou and now he was feeling the consequences.

He felt tired.

He decided that they would depart to Konoha the upcoming day and capture the kyuubi once and all.

He didn't like the idea of entering Konoha just like that, but there wasn't much choice, they would just have to be careful.

* * *

The upcoming day finally arrived for both shinobi. Sakura hadn't slept much and Itachi hadn't slept at all.

When in the bathroom she realized she needed her hair done, so she hurried to the village. Itachi remained in the room, waiting for her to finish her "urgent business that need to be taken care of".

He knew she was hiding a few things that might be of considerable importance. He didn't want to dig into it very much because that belonged to her personal life, but some of the things he saw and felt the day before during the genjutsu made him change his mind.

He had thought of many possibilities for her strange behaviour, starting from the base that she wasn't Gennosuke Mia as she said she was. But it was all more complicated because of her Sharingan.

Honestly, he didn't believe a word of the explanation she had given him about it, but logically, it was absolutely viable, in fact, it was the most reasonable explanation.

He had noticed she suffered a lot of pain every time she activated them, which, for someone who had actually developed the third tear, wasn't something normal. She had trained her doujutsu for quite sometime and it was unusual for that pain to happen.

Many things just didn't fit.

So he followed her.

* * *

She looked at her pale face in the wall-large mirror of the hairdresser.

Her hair was perfectly dyed of black as always.

The woman stood behind her and looked at sakura with an impassive face.

"Why would you dye your hair black when your natural colour is so cute?", the woman asked friendly.

Sakura smirked while her eyes where fixed on her hair's reflection.

"Exactly because of that", she said and stood up.

She paid her and muttered a quick 'thank you', then she left, just in time to be received by a slap of snowy morning air.

There was a lot of people on the street despite the freezing weather and the thick layer of snow covering the ground.

'They have lives to follow no matter how cold the day is', she thought. Yeah, she had a life to follow too, one that now presented her a big obstacle.

The return to Konoha.

With Itachi.

What was she going to do then? she hadn't planned that when she started her mission years ago, nor when she decided to stay with Itachi the day before.

People would recognize her. It had been easy to deceive Itachi because he had seen her face probably once, and he remembered her for her pink hair, but the people of Konoha knew her face very well, after all, she was the famous apprentice of the Fifth and a prestigious medic-nin who worked in the _public_ hospital of the village.

It was all becoming more and more complicated and somehow she had the sensation that it was her own fault.

"Look who I found here"

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Her blood ran cold.

A hand bigger than hers placed on her hip as a warm body positioned itself behind her cold one.

She felt like fainting.

'Keep cool, Sakura, don't lose it, just... just...'

"Did you miss me...? Sakura...?", his lips next to her ears, pronouncing those fateful words hit her like a rock in the head.

"...How...", she tried, but her trembling voice got caught in the back of her throat.

"It doesn't matter, more importantly...", he whispered. "...This..." he softly grabbed a few strands of her black hair "...and this", his other hand was placed upon one red cloud of her Akatsuki cloak.

"...Sasuke...", she said, barely above a whisper, her voice cracking, reflecting her current inner storm.

He moved to her side, so his arm was on her shoulders, embracing her and holding her close to him.

He started walking, forcing her to walk with him.

She didn't dare to look at him on the face. Her green eyes were glued to the white road before them.

She hadn't felt him at all.

"This was a big surprise indeed", he said. His voice lingering at her ears, she felt like it had been ages since she last heard it. It was also provoking her body to fill with adrenaline, rushing at full speed, making her heart pump uncontrollably hard against her chest.

"I must admit that I had a difficult time recognizing you at first", he said without looking at her.

"What are you doing here?", she dared to ask, using the coldest voice she could mutter.

"Well, you see, I was in search of Uchiha Itachi...", he paused for a second while turning his gaze to her "...but I found you instead".

Her heart skipped a beat.

A few ones, actually.

She noticed that they were heading to the exit of the village and she naively wondered what he had on his mind.

People looked at them as they passed by.

Girls stared at Sasuke with a stupid puppy-love face and she laughed inwardly as she remembered directing the same look at him when she was younger.

How stupid can a person be?

"Now, the question is...", he interrupted her thoughts "...Why are you dressed as an _Akatsuki_ like my brother?", his voice low and dangerous.

She sighed, hoping for the best.

"You don't need to know that", she simply responded.

He fell silent as they reached the spot in the forest that had served her and Itachi as a training field.

Sasuke stopped there and released her. He took one step backwards and stood unmoving, staring at her back as she still didn't dare to face him.

The white environment made their dark figures to stand out.

"I came here for a reason, Sakura", he said with ice on his voice "...and I know that you can help me"

"You can't kill him, not alone at least", she said.

He smirked.

"Want to join me?", he said mockingly.

"No", she responded.

"Are you protecting him then?", his eyes narrowing.

"No, I just don't want to help you, Sasuke"

His expression darkened.

Where had Sakura gone?

"I should kill _you_ instead", she said while turning around, finally finding the courage to look at him on the eyes.

Courage born in hatred.

Sharingan blazing like fire with an intensity that made him gasp.

He was dumbfounded.

"...Sharingan...?", he said incredulous, his eyes wide open.

She just stared at him.

He bent his head down a little, hiding his face behind black bangs.

"So it was you after all...", he said barely audible. He was more like talking to himself, answering the question that had been on his mind during the last year, plaguing his dreams with nightmares, eating him alive.

His chest felt suddenly heavier.

"Thanks to you I've obtained these eyes...", she said darkly "...these cursed eyes", she couldn't help the venom that dripped from her voice with each syllable.

"I never expected you to become a criminal like him", he said angrily.

"I'm nothing of what you expected", she responded.

Sakura felt angered by his words. She wasn't a criminal! She was just doing a mission for the village _he_ had betrayed!

She wasn't like Itachi.

Sasuke was more like him.

"You know how much you resemble your brother...?", she said, the corners of her mouth curving into a smirk.

In a second Sasuke was grabbing her throat painfully tight, anger evident in his Sharingan eyes.

"You don't know a word of what you're talking about", he whispered dangerously next to her face.

She smirked and that only angered him more.

"Asshole", she whispered slowly, exaggeratedly pronouncing each word.

He narrowed his eyes and threw her away violently. Her body landed in the snow, making a hole so deep that her back hit the soil under.

She winced in pain, but she quickly started chuckling.

"You're so predictable", she said.

He came again at her, lifting her limp body as he hit her hard on the cheek, sending her flying away again.

Sasuke ran to catch her before she even touched the ground and received her with a strong kick on her stomach.

She coughed blood as small tears left her eyes.

She fell like a dead weight.

He kicked her with fury again, and again.

Sakura had known that one day she would confront Sasuke, and that she would have to fight him as if he were her deadliest enemy. But now, that that day had come, she found herself too emotionally damaged to even lift a finger.

He was _fighting_ her.

Her Sasuke-_kun_ was beating the crap out of her, fully intent on killing her.

How could she understand _that_?

What had happened to her life?

She cried for the physical pain he was inflicting on her.

She cried for the ache in her chest, on her heart.

"Dammit...", she spat out in frustration.

He stopped and looked at her pitiful form below.

She tried to move, but the pain on her ribs was too big. She collapsed on the ground.

"Even after all this time, you're still annoying", he said smirking. He knew he had hit a sore spot, which was rapidly confirmed as she gasped and turned her hands into tight fists.

She finally stood with great effort and looked at him with hatred so intense in her blood-red eyes that made him smirk.

She forced her body to relax as much as possible in such situation. Closing her eyes, she accumulated her chakra on her right hand and placed it over her hurt side.

Sasuke gazed in awe as she healed herself with such ease, and slowly she recovered her pose, and her expression now lacked the pain he saw just second ago.

Now it was pure hate.

"You know...", she started "...I've been training a lot lately", she closed her eyes and smirked "...with your brother", she opened her eyes just to see the priceless expression of the man standing in front of her.

He twitched his mouth and narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly.

"And I've learned some things that maybe even you don't know...", she chuckled.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows and looked at her with an amused expression.

"Oh really?", he said.

She smiled widely.

"Really...", her eyes stared intently at his and he realized what she was trying to do.

"That won't work with me, Sakura, even if you possess Sharingan now, I've had it since I was twelve, there's no way..."

And he fell shut at the same time she let a soft chuckle escape her lips.

His face showed the most horrified expression she had seen on him.

And he screamed.

Her few seconds of glory were dramatically interrupted though.

"Haruno...Sakura...right?"

Damn.

She slowly turned around to face what she had been afraid of since the day she left her village.

"Itachi..."

* * *

A/N: Hi everybody!! Man, I'm sooooooooooooooooooo happy with your reviews! I'm very very glad to read that you like this story so much. special thanks to Tyger's eye of gold; I swear that I was overexcited for almost a complete day because of what you said in your review xD THAAANKS xD

So, most of you guessed what was going to happen on this chapter through your questions xD I just wanted to add a little bit of tension :P

And thanks for replying to my question about Itachi's parents. :D

Thanks again to SharinganAngel who did the beta in like...20 minutes xD love yaaa!

damn...I love you all!!!!!!

ahahha, yeah Sasuke...SUFFER!!!!!!!!! xDDDD

bye everyone and keep reviewing!!!!!!!!!

T-----T I hope to update soon too xD


	14. The longest day

Many things could describe what he was feeling at the moment.

There was anger, frustration, even embarrassment, but one stood out among the rest as the perfect word.

Wrath.

Yes, Uchiha Itachi was furious.

This little girl he had in front looked at him with a pitiful gaze and he could feel the pleasure it would give him to torture her both physically and mentaly to death.

"You're not very wise if you thought you could deceive us, Sakura-kun", he said, dangerously slow, each word contained a promise of unthinkable pain.

Sakura visibly tensed under it.

His eyes were narrowed, to the point were they appeared to be a thin line of black and crimson.

His silence making the air grow heavier, the atmosphere so thick it made her difficult to breathe evenly.

She hissed almost inaudibly.

He saw her close her eyes tightly, her brows pressed together drawing a deep frown, her head bent down just a little.

He bent his head down too, but kept his intense blood eyes fixated on her trembling form, piercing through her as if she were a worthless bug.

"I..." she said with an icy and shaking voice.

"You're dead" he interrupted.

Actually, he couldn't kill her just yet; he had to take her to Leader and let him decide her fate, but that didn't mean he couldn't hurt her first.

He would certainly do it.

Painfully slow.

Itachi moved incredibly fast to stand in front of her, invading her personal space, pushing her down with his mere presence. He lifted up his hand to roughly grab her chin, forcing her to look at him, but her eyes were still tightly closed.

"The Sharingan..." he whispered, his breath brushing her cold cheek, "...How?", he merely said.

She opened her eyes, but refused to meet his gaze.

She slightly parted her lips to respond.

"Itachi!!" a threatening voice cutting her off.

His eyes looked behind her to his angered little brother. He was standing up, his breathing evidently ragged.

"...Leave her" he said coldly.

Itachi looked at him for a few seconds, wondering how was it possible for his brother to appear right at the worst possible moment.

He would have to decide whether to fight him, or take Sakura to Leader.

Sasuke wouldn't wait there and happily look how he ran away with his former teammate.

Itachi released Sakura and stepped backwards, still looking at the younger Uchiha.

"Sakura, leave" Sasuke said.

She didn't move.

"Sakura!" he said, his patience dying.

She slowly turned around to look him in the eyes, searching for something she didn't even know of, then, she started walking away from them, her head facing the ground below her feet.

Itachi didn't move either.

None of them uttered a word until Sakura lost herself amidst the trees.

And then, the fight had begun.

* * *

The tears wouldn't stop running down her cheeks.

She just, couldn't stop them.

Her legs were trembling and her hands shook uncontrollably, not from the icy winds, but from fear.

Fear and a bundle of emotions that made her go insane.

She collapsed on the snow, her knees hitting the ground below.

She grabbed her head and begun crying hysterically, making her body shake violently with every sob.

She heard the sounds of their furious fight, not too far away from her.

Her mind told her to take the chance and run away from there as fast as she could, but for some reason, she couldn't get her legs to move.

Was it because of the cold?

Because of fear...?

She tried to calm herself, to regain her calm demeanour, the one she had learned to have being Mia, but...

...She wasn't Mia anymore, right?

Itachi knew who she was, and so her mission was almost over, that was why she needed to get out of that place immediatly.

She lowered her shaking hands to look at them, and suddenly she realized that there was no need to keep playing that role.

She was Sakura again. She had to see her friends, Naruto, Kakashi, Tsunade, _her _village, and slowly her sobs diminished.

She stood up and started walking. Soon her steps grew faster and she found herself running.

It wasn't easy to run on a snowy forest, but she wasn't even thinking about it. All she had on her head was to escape.

The need to reach Konoha alone was moving her legs.

Trees passed by her like a blur as she sped up, jumping on a branch to make her travel easier.

Suddenly she stopped, dead in her tracks.

She just wished to die; a quick death hopefully, though that was asking a little bit too much.

"You really thought I would let you escape so easily?" Itachi's voice sounded like a bad omen.

"Of course I didn't", she said, almost chuckling at her bad, awfully bad luck.

"You still haven't answered my earlier question", he said.

She jumped down to the ground and turned around to face the Uchiha.

"Sharingan?" she asked.

"..."

She hesitated.

"...It was a gift", was her mere reply. She wasn't going to tell him more.

He said nothing.

"And Sasuke? Was he so weak?", she asked, not liking the way her voice seemed to tremble.

"I'm fighting him", he said quietly.

Sakura activated the Sharingan, wincing a little in pain.

This was a clone.

She smirked.

Maybe she wasn't so dead as she had thought.

* * *

"Katon, Gougakyu no justu!"

Sasuke jumped to avoid it.

A rain of kunai fell, attempting to cut him to pieces, but he quickly made some hands seals and a clone received the deadly attack. He fell on the now melted snow and a clone of water went to hit him from behind. Sasuke cut it down with one swift move of his sword and dug it in the earth to support his weight as he drew a kick behind him, where another clone of Itachi was about to attack him.

He located his brother's presence and made seals to throw oil to that spot, while one of his own clones made a grand fireball, and Itachi was caught in the middle of the flaming hell.

Sasuke stood for a moment, waiting for Itachi's next attack, which came from below.

He was suddenly being pulled down into the earth; much like Kakashi had done years ago in their survival training.

In a dispaly of his chakra control, he emitted electricity through his foot, releasing himself from Itachi's grip, but as he reached the surface, he was received by a full-powered housenka no jutsu. He merely had time to dodge it, as he summoned one of his medium-sized snakes.

The animal occupied a great part of the small clearing, leaving almost no room for Itachi to move, so he just attacked it and the snake disappeared in a huge cloud of smoke.

He took the chance and went to grab Sasuke from behind, throwing him to ground and giving him a few broken ribs.

Sasuke grimaced in pain, but quickly moved his sword around, cutting Itachi in a half. Another 'puff' sounded, but an explosion accompanied it this time. He jumped backwards, meeting his brother mid air.

* * *

Sakura was having her own fight.

Even if this was only a clone, it was thrice as strong as she was, and it was even more difficult if she couldn't use any genjutsu.

She had prepared a few ones for him, but she realized it wouldn't work on a clone.

So she was practically fighting purely with taijutsu.

Her chakra-filled punches were having their effect on the Uchiha, as she had effectively connected a few times, but still, he was overpowering her more than she wished to recognize.

One of her strong punches on the earth made him just slightly lose balance, as she made an earth jutsu, grabbing him from under the ground. She smirked when her hand touched his ankle.

She had just cut down a tendon.

The clone disappeared with a light 'puff', and she stood there, trying to understand what had just happened.

Had she won?

She reminded herself that she was against time, so she started running again in direction of Konoha.

* * *

Itachi twitched his mouth a little as he realized his clone had been beaten.

Sasuke was coming from all directions, and this was becoming a rather interesting fight.

He hadn't thought his little brother would improve so much in so little time.

So he made another clone and sent it to catch Sakura.

* * *

Dammit.

A strong kick sent her flying against a tree.

Another clone?

Sakura stood out straight and prepared herself to fight again, this time with much more determination.

The amount of jutsus he knew were something she couldn't even hope to match. Each one more powerful than its former.

'_Ninjutsu...you should know how important it is to possess at least a few powerful ones'_

Yeah right, a few _hundred_ of powerful ones.

Bastard.

She hit him with great force; a direct blow to the face. She felt a small glint of satisfaction at the sound of his cracking cheekbone under her knuckles. But suddenly her expression turned into that of pain as another stabbed her in the stomach with a kunai.

The clone disappeared and she fell to her knees, grabbing her side in pain.

Blood was rapidly drippig from the open wound and she tried her best to partially stop it. With great effort she stood up and started running again, not losing a second of the valuable time between clone and clone.

She realized she had travelled a fair amount of distance already, and if she kept this rhythm she would be in Konoha before sunset.

As she ran, another clone of Itachi appeared from her side, running behind her.

She stopped and hit him backwards with her foot.

He dodged it and she sighed, starting again this seemingly endless fight.

* * *

Itachi saw with satisfaction that his brother was panting heavily. His movements were more and more ackward and unprecise; his aim was worst as he was visibly tired.

Itachi was tired somewhat himself.

Fighting Sasuke and Sakura wasn't such an easy thing to do, and he was getting a little concerned by the fact that she was beating all of his clones.

He could tell she had improved a lot.

For some reason that realization annoyed him.

Itachi needed to end this fight soon, and then take Sakura with him.

They had been fighting for hours now. Even if Sasuke was tired, he was still putting up a good fight. He still didn't have Mangekyou, yet his power was overwhelming. Itachi knew that if he ever achieved it, he would soon surpass him.

But not in this life.

He smirked.

"Mangekyou Sharingan", he said low, and that,

was the final point for this fight.

* * *

The sky was already red, getting violet as the sun was about to hide.

Sakura knew she was very close to her beloved village, but with each passing second it was getting more and more difficult for her to move.

Her stomach had started to bleed again, and not only that, but her two twisted fingers and one broken rib were giving her the pain of hell itself. Her thigh had been cut deeply and her muscles were about to give up.

But in spite of all, she sped up.

She jumped on the path that leaded to the entrance of Konoha as a wide smile placed on her tired features.

She could do it.

Sakura felt a strong presence behind her and she fightened at the realization that this wasn't a clone.

It was the real Uchiha.

Then Sasuke...

Oh God.

She ran as fast as she could, trying to supress the tears forming on her eyes.

Itachi was getting closer too fast for her liking.

The gates.

Her eyes shone like they hadn't done in years when she saw those beautiful gates.

Tears were blurring her vision, but she didn't care.

'Konoha...'

* * *

He felt her dim chakra getting closer as he ran at full speed. He knew that Konoha was too close. It would be imprudent to enter the village given his current state.

Using Mangekyou had drained out too much chakra from him, so the idea of fighting the ANBU that would probably protect the kunoichi was disgarded already.

When he entered the path that lead to the gates, he stopped, his hands closing in a tight fist.

The girl had made it.

He remained still, looking at the distance where the gates were supposed to be, the very first amount of wrath boiling up inside of him.

What a troublesome situation indeed.

* * *

She crossed the gates and didn't stop until she reached the Hokage tower.

She couldn't believe it.

Sakura closed her eyes in satisfaction as her body finaly gave up and she collapsed in front of the main doors of the building.

A wide grin graced her features as she fell unconscious.

"Who's this?" she heard someone say in the distance.

"Take her to Hokage-sama", and then her world faded to black.

* * *

A/N: Hi people! here I am again with a new chapter. I'm already writing the next one, so that should come pretty much soon.

As always, thank you all for your reviews, I assure you that they give me a lot of confidence on my writing, they're very inspirating :D

About this chapter, I'm still not sure about it, this was supposed to be the pre, but I got tired of delaying it so I decided to upload it as it was, if you people dislike it, tell me right away, 'cause I'm not happy with it myself, but...well, I wanted to add more drama and tension and all that stuff that stiffens your body when you're reading it :P, so you tell me what you thought of it ok?

thanks a lot to blaze, who just arrived from a long and beautiful vacation (I hate you!!!), and did this in less than a day. kisses!!

Review!!

adieu!

PS: If you've got specific questions about the story or any other thing, please pm me ok?, cause if you just write them in a review I forget to answer them :P sorry! But still, review!!!! 8D


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